The Unnatural Prodigy
by savethetub
Summary: Minato knew the harsh life that Jinchuuriki must endure. After sealing the Kyuubi into Naruto, he made a change to the seal that gave Naruto all of his and Kushina's talents and abilities so he could defend himself from the cruel hard world. How will the world be affected when Naruto has the skills of two Kage level ninja? The first chapter is kinda dark after that its brighter.
1. Chapter 1

Minato and his wife Kushina both laid dying on both sides of their new born son. Minato laid on the right as he repeatedly apologized for what he had just done to his beloved new son.

Mere minutes ago the Kyuubi had broken out of his wife's seal and reeked havoc on the village Hidden in the Leaves. A masked man had broken the seal and he used the Kyuubi to attack the village, killing hundreds in the process, As the Hokage of the village it had been up to him to stop the masked man and stop the king of the Biju.

Minato had managed to foil the masked mans plans but the Kyuubi had been too strong for him too kill.

So he had been forced to split the Kyuubi in half and sealed one half into himself, and the other into his new son.

"Its only been a few hours and I suck at being a dad." Minato commented weakly as he stroked his sons hair, so much like his own, and wept openly.

Kushina was weeping as well, her baby boy had just become the third Jinchuuriki to the Kyuubi No Yoko, she wept for the pain and suffering her new son was going to have to endure because of the accursed demon that was sealed in his stomach just like it had been in hers. She cried because she knew what it was like to be glared at and hated by everyone because of something she didn't want. But she had Minato! She found love to fill the hole that had been in her heart, her son would have nothing.

He would be all alone in the world, he would have no one to fill that hole in his heart.

In a way she was angry with her husband, angry that he couldn't have found a better way, a way where her little Naru-chan wouldn't be so alone, but she knew that Minato didn't want this any more than she did.

"I'm so sorry Naru-chan that we won't get to see you grow up!" she sobbed heavily, spitting up blood as she did so.

She looked at Minato, "Min-kun what have we done? He's going to so alone! There won't be anyone to protect our little Naruto!" She cried and sobbed, not once in her entire life had she been this upset. Not even when she found out she was going to have the Kyuubi sealed inside her and she couldn't believe she was this upset on the day that was supposed to be the best day of her life!

Minato looked crestfallen as he stroked his sons hair, then a spark of what could only be hope ignited in his eye, "We may not be able to protect him...but maybe we can help him protect himself." He said as he shakily began to draw on Naruto's new seal with his life's blood.

"W-what do you mean?" Kushina asked hopefully, she'd give anything to make sure her new son was even slightly safer. Minato shakily drew on Naruto's stomach as he began to explain, "We may not be here to protect Naruto but maybe we can give him the skills to protect himself...the seal I'm drawing will infuse our experiences and talents into Naruto so he can protect himself." Minato explained as he altered the seal on Naruto's stomach. Kushina's brow furrowed in confusion, "So our son will have our memories?" she asked confusedly, thinking that couldn't be healthy.

Minato chuckled weakly, "No, he won't have our memories but he'll have our experience in battles. He'll have the instincts of two veterans shinobi. He'll fight like we do because of what he will think as instincts but it will be our experiences that that make him have those instincts. He'll be incredibly talented in most ninja art because he'll unknowingly will have years of experience in the fields." Minato explained further as he began to finish up the seal.

Kushina smiled weakly at her husband, leave it to Minato to do the seemingly impossible to protect the people he cares about. She was also slightly happy that they could give their son even a small amount of protection from the cruel, hard, mean world.

Kushina nodded as she grabbed Minato's hand and placed a hand on her sons head, "Naruto...don't be picky and grow strong. Make sure you bathe everyday and stay warm. Also don't stay up late. You need lots of sleep...and make friends. You don't need a lot of friends. Just a few...ones that you can really trust. I wasn't very good at it but keep up with your studies and practice your Ninjutsu hard. Remember everyone has strengths and weaknesses...so don't get too depressed if you can't do something well. Respect your teachers at the academy.

Oh, and this is important. Its about the three prohibitions for a shinobi. Be extra careful about lending and borrowing money. Put your mission wages into a savings account

No alcohol until your twenty. Too much can ruin your health so drink in moderation.

Another prohibition is women. I'm a woman, so I don't know to much about this but...all you need to remember is that this world is made up of men and women. It's only natural to take an interest in girls but don't get hooked on bad women. Find someone like me.

Speaking of the tree prohibitions, be wary of Jiraiya-sensei, you know.

Naruto, from now on, your going to face lots of pain and hardship. Be true to yourself. Have a dream and have confidence to make that dream come true!

There's so much...oh, theres so much more I want to pass on to you. I wish I could stay with you longer.

I love you." She finished, coughing blood as she did so. She smiled apologetically at her husband, "Minato, I'm sorry I used up your time."

Minato just shook his head and sent her a loving smile, "Oh it's okay." He looked at Naruto, "Naruto my message to you is...I guess the same as your nagging mothers." He said with a smile and received a chuckle from his wife.

Kushina started to tear up again, "Oh, I want to see him grow up so bad!" She cried. Minato sent her a knowing smile, "We will. I'm going to seal the last of our chakra in the seal as well so we can see Naruto again someday."

Kushina smiled at her husband and nodded that she was ready.

Both parents turned to the child between them and said, "We love you, Naruto." Before the seal activated and took both their lives.

**Time skip-Naruto age six**

Naruto stood in the clearing at the academy like everyone else in his class. Today was their first day of Taijutsu sparing with once another and Naruto knew he wasn't going to do well.

The academy teachers had been sabotaging he education from the beginning, they told him how to throw a kunai wrong, told him the wrong stances in Taijutsu, told him how to form handsighs wrong, placed Genjutsu's on his test. They were doing everything that they could to make sure he never became a ninja.

If it wasn't for his strange instincts, he had no idea how screwed he would be.

When they taught him how to throw a kunai wrong, he couldn't explain it but he just knew it wasn't right. It was like his body was telling him that he wasn't doing it right, so Naruto altered his stance and grip until it felt natural and when he threw the kunai, he got it dead-center.

After that he just ignored everything the teachers tried to teach him. He wasn't even close to being an idiot, he knew that they were going to do everything in their power to screw him over so Naruto simply just ignored their teachings.

Like the kunai incident, he made handsighs until they felt right, and with the test he dispelled the Genjutsu's on them and answered the questions easily. He had gone under a **henge **and went into the library and tried to find scrolls on Taijutsu styles but his Taijutsu, however, he had not been able to fix. All the scrolls that deal with fighting stances other than the academy style were under lock and key in the Genin and higher sections in the library. The only way to get into those sections was to be the rank of ninja of the section you were trying to enter. So Naruto had no style other than the bit and pieces of the academy style that he watched from the kids who were taught the correct forms.

Naruto sighed as he scratched his sun-kissed hair, '_I'm so screwed! Maybe I'll get lucky and end up with a girl. Maybe then I can just over power her.' _Naruto thought strategically. Admittedly it wasn't an advanced but for a six year old...

Naruto was broken out of his musings by Iruka starting the first match between Shikamaru Naru and Chouji Akimichi.

"But sensei, I don't want to fight my friend!" Chouji complained, he was a rather gentle soul and he hated the thought of harming anyone, much less a friend.

Iruka sighed as he explained the purpose of the spar, "But your not really fighting your friend Chouji. Your helping him get stronger! Remember that even the Hokages spar with their friends to get-" Iruka's speech was interrupted by Shikamaru walking out the white circle that was the ring.

"Don't worry Chouji, I know this isn't your kinda thing." The Nara said lazily. Iruka sighed loudly as Chouji grinned at his friend, "Thanks Shikamaru!"

"Guh, their both so spineless!" Ino commented and a young looking Sakura glanced at her friend, "You know them?" she asked and Ino nodded sadly, "Yeah...our parents know each other..."

"Man, Shikamaru will never make it to Chunin. He's to lazy!" Kiba commented, feeling slightly annoyed that he was robbed of seeing a good fight. "I don't know Inuzuka-san. Life is very long." Shino commented and Kiba sweatdropped at Shino's logical tone.

Iruka looked at his two unwilling fighters, "Fine. But do the harmony symbol."

Shikamaru looked surprised, "Oh! I almost forgot!" He said as he walked back and linked fingers with his friend.

"Good, Now Sasuke Uchiha..." Iruka said calling out the next contestants. As Sasuke walked into the ring, his fangirls screamed their support. Sasuke was the most popular due to his Uchiha status and the fact he was doing the best in class.

"...and Naruto Uzumaki."

The cheering stopped as everyone glared at the blonde and began to whisper insults about him, but they were loud enough that Naruto's sensitive ears caught what they were saying.

"Why is he even trying? He's not going to win."

"Thats the boy my mommy told me to safety away from..."

"What a freak..."

"He should just give up..."

"He's a monster..."

Naruto clenched his fists as he entered the ring, how desperately he wanted to prove them all wrong but he knew he was no match for the Uchiha.

"You ready to lose dobe?" Sasuke said arrogantly as he got in the interceptor fist stance, his families Taijutsu style. Naruto just sighed as he angled his body away from Sasuke, he didn't have any Taijutsu style so he didn't have a stance.

Iruka looked at both contestants, "Begin!" He yelled.

Sasuke and Naruto sprung at each other. Sasuke threw the first punch, aiming for a one hit K.O so he could brag, but the strangest thing happened.

Naruto, by instinct, grabbed Sasuke's wrist and used his momentum to throw him over Naruto's shoulder.

Sasuke landed on his feet but he looked as surprised as Naruto felt. He had no idea how he just did that, it was like his body knew how to dodge so his mind wasn't needed. '_is it like with the kunai and handsighs?' _He thought hopefully, maybe there was a chance he could win after all!

Naruto crouched low and sprung at Sasuke, he was snapped out of his surprise when Naruto's fist hit him in the gut. Ignoring the pain in his stomach, he threw a left hook to hit Naruto in the jaw but the blow was stopped when Naruto threw up his forearm and caught Sasuke's arm by the elbow. Acting on Instinct alone; he punched Sasuke in the mouth like he was going to do to him and as Sasuke stumbled back, he then delivered a frontal kick to Sasuke's stomach and knocked him out of the ring.

Everyone watched in shock as Naruto managed to beat Sasuke, he looked like he was doing it with ease!

Iruka smiled lightly, it seems Naruto had been practicing on his own, "Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!" He called out, pride evident in his voice.

Naruto smiled, indescribably happy that he had just won. He couldn't believe it! Maybe now everyone would-

"Cheater!" Sasuke's fangirls roared, they hurled other insults at him and each one was worse than the last. They looked absolutely murderous, they refused to believe that Naruto had beaten their Sasuke-kun. Naruto looked at them in a sad way, '_I should have known that they wouldn't cheer for me.'_ He thought sadly as he took off running towards the fence and hopping over it, crying a little as he did so.

Sasuke's eyes followed the blonde that had just bested him, he couldn't believe he had lost to the dobe and he was going to make sure he payed for embarrassing him like this.

...

Naruto sat upon the Yondaimes stone head for hours after the matches at the academy. This was his favorite place to come when he was upset by something the village had done to him. Naruto didn't know why they hated him so. They called him a demon and a monster, they said he killed their families and that he deserved the beatings, getting thrown out of stores and the cruel glares. He didn't know why they did those things, he certainly didn't think he was a monster but that didn't matter. The entire village hated him except for his Jiji and Iruka-sensei.

Jiji was the Hokage of the village that looked after Naruto as much as he could. He was like the grandfather that he never had.

Iruka-sensei was the ony teacher that didn't try to sabotage Naruto's future but because how the academy was laid out, he only had his class once a week until his final year in the academy

They were the only ones who could stand to be around him.

He asked them why they hated him, why they called him a demon but they always dodged the questions.

Naruto gazed down at the village below him in sad anger. Why couldn't they see that he wasn't a monster? That he never did those things that they accused him of? Why couldn't they see that he was just a normal six year old boy?

Naruto sighed as he thought about his match with Sasuke earlier. He thought since he had won, people would start to respect him a little. Maybe even want to be friends with him or include him in the occasional game. In hindsight he realized he was a fool.

He should have known that he would never gain the respect of his peers. And now everyone was going to hate him more because he had hurt the stupid teme.

It had been quiet the shock when he had won and he still didn't understand how he did it. His body just knew how to react before his gifted mind had a chance to process what was happening. Naruto was incredibly smart, not quiet on par with a Nara but he was close, and for the life of him he couldn't figure out how his body knew what to do.

He thought about telling Jiji about his odd instincts but he had decided against it. What if that was the final straw with the Hokage and he would start to look at Naruto with those cruel, harsh, hateful eyes? Naruto didn't think he could stand it if Jiji looked at him that way.

Naruto brushed away a tear that was beginning to form in his eye, '_I won't cry! I'm not some crybaby!' _Naruto vowed as he continuously wiped away the tears that were escaping from his eyes despite his vow.

He didn't show it but Naruto was really lonely. He joked around and pranked to hide it but deep down, Naruto all alone. He had Jiji and Iruka-sensei but he was terrified that he would mess up and they would end up hating him too so he couldn't _really_ rely on them. He just wanted one person that he could trust fully and didn't have to fear the cold sting of rejection from them.

So, despite all of his attempts and vows, Naruto cried on top of his idols head.

"Hey brat..."

**Flashback-6 hours ago**

Hinata watched Naruto jump over the academy fencing with a worried expression, Naruto had looked really upset that everyone accused him of cheating.

"Are you all right Sasuke-kun? Did that cheater hurt you?" Sakura asked her crush worriedly as she went to go pick him off the ground.

Sasuke slapped her hand away, "I'm fine." He said gruffly. Sasuke's mind was reeling, how did he lose to the dobe? The loser of their class? He just knew he was going to get an earful from his father when he got home.

Sakura looked hurt but complied with his wishes as Sasuke picked himself up.

Iruka sighed as he watched Naruto's retreating form, he was worried about Naruto. He looked incredibly hurt that everyone had accused him of cheating when it was blatantly obvious Naruto had won with his own skill.

Naruto's moves had really surprised Iruka, they certainly weren't academy style. He was going to ask Naruto where he learned them but he had run off before he had a chance too.

Iruka looked disappointedly at the rest of his students, who were still trash talking Naruto, and made the handsighs for his signature jutsu.

"SHUT-UP! NEXT CONTESTANT!" He yelled, using his **Big head jutsu.**

...

After school, Hinata went looking for Naruto. She wanted to comfort the blonde and tell him that she didn't think he cheated...but she knew she would just stutter and faint. But she wanted to try and help Naruto!

Naruto didn't know it but he played a major role in the young Hyuga's life. Hinata idolized Naruto, he was everything she wished she could be. Confident, happy, endurance, the list went on. She'd give anything for her idol to notice her but sadly he never did.

She was the opposite of Naruto. shy, sad, wrecked with self doubt and she would always cry if she did something wrong.

Hinata walked up the stairs to the top of the Hokage monument, Naruto's usual hideout when he was sad or upset.

Also unknown to our favorite blonde, Hinata would occasionally follow Naruto. Some part of the reason why was she wanted to know how he managed to endure everyones hateful glares and the other part was she enjoyed being near Naruto. He had a soothing presence that instantly calmed her down when she was upset.

Like she thought she would, Hinata saw Naruto sitting upon the Yondaime's head. She watched him, trying to gather up the nerve to walk up and talk to him. Then minutes turned to hours as she tried to make her body move, then she saw a sight she'd never thought she see.

Naruto was crying.

It broke hinata's heart to see her hero so hurt to the point of tears. '_I have to move! Naruto-kun needs me!' _She thought to herself and the moment she took a few steps in his direction, two men suddenly appeared.

**Back to Naruto**

Naruto turned around slowly and saw that it was two Chunin ninja that had been talking to him. "Yeah?" He asked as he wiped away any leftover tears.

The Chunin on the left asked, "Well, today we heard that you had managed to beat up Sasuke Uchiha in a spar today. Is that true?" He asked.

Naruto hesitated, then nodded. For some reason this guy was giving him the creeps. The two Chunin sent each other a sly smile, "In that case we need you to come with us." The one on the right said with a disarming smile but it had the exact opposite effect on Naruto.

He had seen that kind of smile before and it always ended in him getting hurt.

Naruto got up slowly, giving them the impression that he was complying before he sprung into action. He leapt forward and punched the one on the right in the balls and grabbed a kunai from his holster before throwing it at the second Chunin before turning to run away.

"Oh no you don't you demon!" The uninjured Chunin said as he grabbed Naruto by the hair and yanked him back, Naruto yelled out in pain as he hit the ground. The Jounin looked over at his friend, who was holding his private region and glaring at Naruto with a pained expression, "You alright?" he asked as he heavily rested his foot on Naruto's chest.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll be even better when I make him pay for it later ten times over." The injured Chunin responded as he delivered a swift kick to Naruto's ribs.

"Alright, lets get out-"

"Leave Naruto-kun alone!" Hinata yelled out as she got into her gentle fist stance. She was scared of the two Chunin but she had to be brave to save Naruto. Naruto looked over and saw it was the weird girl in his class that fainted a lot, he gritted his teeth in pain as the Chunin dug his heel deeper into his ribs, "What are you doing? Get 'otta here! I'll be fine!" He called out to the pale eyed heiress.

The two Chunin shared a sly grin, "Aww, is the little Hyuga gonna save the little monster?" The injured one mocked.

Hinata stood her ground, ignoring their taunts and Naruto's pleas for her to run, she had to save Naruto! No matter the cost!

The Chunin looked back at Hinata and grinned again as he delivered a devastating backhand to Hinata, causing her to go flying. Hinata landed on her head, causing her to heavily bleed, then crumpled into a beat-up ball. Her face hurt where she was slapped and her head really hurt where it was split open, but Naruto-kun was in danger!

Hinata struggled to force herself back on two legs.

The Chunin that had hit her sneered as he kicked her legs out from underneath her, "Just stay down you Hyuga brat. You won't win." He said as he delivered a kick to her ribs.

Hinata cried out in pain as Naruto struggled to get from underneath the boot that pinned him, "Don't hurt her you son of a bitch!" He screamed.

The Chunin's rolled their eyes as the Chunin that had been hurting Hinata picked her up and looked her in the eyes.

Hinata looked fearfully as into the mans cold onyx eyes before they turned red with three small tomoes. If Hinata wasn't barely conscious, she would have been surprised that members of the Uchiha clan were hurting her and Naruto.

"What are you doing? Now she'll know who we are." The Chunin standing on Naruto said in an annoyed tone, his partner didn't think that through.

"Shut up! I know what I'm doing?" he snapped.

He looked deeply into Hinata's eyes, "You won't tell anyone about what happened here. You'll tell your family that you fell down the stairs to explain how you got hurt. If you tell anyone...I'll kill you!" He threatened.

Hinata looked terrified but the Chunin ignored that as the tomoes in his eye began to spin.

"Now...sleep." He commanded and Hinata drifted into unconsciousness.

He tossed Hinata aside like yesterdays trash and turned to his friend, "Now...lets have some fun with the demon for shaming our family." He said as they both **Shunshined** outside the village.

**Hours later with Hinata**

Hinata woke hours later, she was all alone in the nights darkness.

Dried blood from her head wound covered a third of her face and her ribs really hurt but she forced herself on two legs.

She had to help Naruto-kun.

Sure the Uchihas threat terrified her to the point where words failed her, but the Hokage always said that you have to be willing to sacrifice for the ones you care about. That was the Will of Fire, the ideal that made Kohona great.

Even though she was incredibly young, thought she understood the ideal. When her family would call her trash and make fun of her, she would just cry about it, but now that Naruto was in danger she had the strength to do what she thought was right...and she knew saving Naruto was the right thing to do even though it could cost her, her life before she had a chance to live it.

Hinata knew she stood no chance against the two Uchihas, so she went for help to the only person that would care if Naruto was hurt.

She ran as fast as she could to the Hokages tower.

**With Naruto**

Naruto screamed soundlessly. He had lost the ability to scream in pain hours ago, his throat raw from constantly screaming as the two unnamed Uchihas tortured him to the edge of human endurance.

He should have died hours ago but his ability to heal had prevented him from embracing death. He cursed his ability, he just wanted the pain to end!

He didn't care if it was because someone saved him or he died.

"You had enough yet?" one of the Uchiha asked in a sadistic tone. Naruto nodded his head yes, desperate for the pain to end.

The same Chunin grinned at Naruto in sadistic glee, as he pulled a knife from a sheath. Naruto peaked open an eye and saw it was a skinning knife.

Clod dread filled Naruto, '_Please...someone...anyone...HELP ME!'_

**With Hinata **

Hinata barged through the Hokage's door, completely ignoring the receptionist, "H-Hokage-sama!" She yelled as she barged into the room.

"Hinata?" Hiashi, Hinata's father, asked in confusion.

Hinata stopped and looked at her father in surprise, then she noticed that the Hokage's office was filled with clan-heads and the civilian council.

Feeling slightly embarrassed, she tried to sink into herself before she remembered that Naruto-kun needed help.

"Hokage-sama! Someone kidnapped Naruto-kun!" She shouted out desperately, hoping that the Hokage would do something.

Hiruzen Sarutobi froze for a moment, "What happened child?" The god of shinobi asked in a reassuring tone, the girls looked like she was on the verge of passing out.

Hinata began to tell him, and the councils, what happened. Hiashi was impressed with his daughter, not only did she try to take on two Chunin, but she didn't stutter once during the urgent story.

As she finished, Hiruzen stood, "Dog, weasel!" on command, the two ANBU captians reveled themselves in the center of the room.

"Gather your teams and any other ANBU or ninja you can find and find Naruto at any costs!"

The two ANBU nodded before disappearing, Hiruzen then turned to Fugaku Uchiha, the clan-head, "I will asking you this once Fugaku. If you lie to me about this I will ruin you and your clan, did you order the kidnapping of Uzumaki Naruto?" he asked in a bone-chilling tone.

Fugaku met the Hokages glare with one of his own, how dare this man threaten him? He was the head of the Uchiha clan! The most prominent clan there is and he deserved respect.

"No. I knew of my sons loss to Naruto but I have punished my son accordingly. I gave no order to harm Naruto.

It is unlikely that it was even members of my clan. The girl must be mistaken or lying." He responded in a cold tone. Struggled saying that monsters name. It was because of that demon that his clan wasn't getting the respect it deserved since the attack.

Before Hinata could protest she was doing neither, her father responded to Fugaku's claims, "Fugaku-san. I would not recommened accusing my daughter in such a manner. Doing so could have consequences." Hiashi said in a hard tone.

"Enough!" Hiruzen said sternly, he looked at Hiashi, "We are in a crisis! Naruto-kun has been taken by someone, Uchiha or not. This is not the time to argue." He commanded, he looked at Fugaku.

Hiruzen searched Fugaku's eyes for deceit, he found plenty of anger and malice, but found no sign that he was lying. He nodded, "I am ending this meeting. Everyone leave save for Hiashi and his daughter." He barked.

When the room was empty, both men turned to the small Hyuga, "Hinata, what you did was incredibly brave!" The Hokage said as he eased Hinata to a chair to sit down. The poor girl looked like she was about to kneel over any second!

Hiashi nodded with the statement, "You did very well Hinata." he praised. They may have been simple words but to the young heiress, they meant a lot to her.

Hinata smiled lightly, "T-thank you." She said happily.

Both men nodded, "Now lets get that head wound checked out shall we? It looks rather nasty." The Hokage said.

**With ANBU**

Kakashi and a young Itachi raced through the forest at high speeds. It had taken them a couple of minutes to summon their teams and organize the search parties.

Kakashi mind was wrecked with worry for his sensei's son.

Even though he had never actually talked to the blonde, except for the times he had reassured him after a nightmare on one occasion, Kakashi was fiercely protective of Naruto.

When he was born he was going to treat him as a brother because in a way, he would be. Minato had been like a father to him after his had taken his own life so, indirectly, Naruto would have been a little brother to him.

After the Kyuubi attack and the death of his sensei, Kakashi had raised complete and utter hell to get custody of Naruto. He deserved to have a family that loved him but the councils, both shinobi and civilian, had stopped him at every turn.

They stopped him because it wasn't "fair" that the Hatake clan got custody of the villages Jinchuuriki when no other clan did.

He had nearly gone on a rampage when the councils had made it official that he would never get custody of his little brother, it had taken the combined efforts of Guy and the newly returned Asuma to keep him from raining hell on the village.

When it was clear that he couldn't protect Naruto in the daylight like family should, he had gone to the Hokage and asked (closer to demanded) that he be placed on Naruto's protection detail so he could protect him from the shadows. The Hokage agreed but on the conditions that he couldn't kill everyone who glared at Naruto and he could never speak to him.

The god of shinobi knew that Kakashi wouldn't be to reframe himself from leaving the village with Naruto in tow if he had gotten to _really_ know his "little brother."

Kakashi had been upset that he couldn't talk to his little brother but he had managed to bargain with the Hokage that he could get to be Naruto's Jounin sensei when he became Genin.

"How much further?" Kakashi asked Itachi in an impatient tone. "Not much further but it may take some time to brake through the Genjutsus around the shack. Only those who specialize in torture in the Uchiha clan know the exact location of the shack. So keep an eye out." Itachi answered.

The said shack was a specialized torture room that the Uchiha's used when they had found an enemy trying to steal clan secrets. It had everything in your worst nightmares in it for those who weren't Uchiha and Itachi had a suspicion that thats where his clansmen had taken Naruto.

They arrived at the approximate location of the torture shack and immediately began to dispel Genjutsu after Genjutsu to reveal its hiding place.

Minutes went by before they had broken through the last Genjutsu and saw the run down shed.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" They heard the high pitched scream that could only belong to a child in immense pain.

Abandoning a life time of training, Kakashi leapt forward and kicked the door in. His only thoughts were of saving his younger brother.

The two Chunin looked surprised at the sudden intrusion, they had been in the process of skinning the demon alive. It was their third time repeating the process because Naruto healed so fast.

"How did you-Gah!" The Chunin on the right began but he was cut off by Kakashi's Chidori piercing his heart. Kakashi threw the now dead Uchiha aside like yesterdays trash before he began to unhook Naruto from a blood soaked table as Itachi dealt with his kin.

"Hey, hey...don't cry Naruto! It'll all be okay now, the bad men can't hurt you." Kakashi tried to comfort the boy as he unstrapped him. As soon as he undid the last strap however, Naruto jumped up and dashed out the door as fast as he could.

He was in to much pain to think clearly or to understand the mans words, he simply knew he had a chance to escape the awful room and he took it,

Naruto ignored the pain in his raw legs as he sprinted as fast as he could, he had been in more pain than that by far so he could endure a little more if it meant escape.

"Naruto!" Kakashi yelled as he chased after the terrified boy.

Naruto was to far gone to listen but in his heavily injured state, he was no match for the Jounin's speed. Kakashi landed in front of Naruto, a few yards away, and he skidded to a halt in front of the masked man. "Naruto...I'm not going to hurt you...I promise..." Kakashi said, hoping to calm the boy but Naruto wasn't listening.

He was in to much pain, despite his skin rapidly regrowing, he was still in massive amounts of mind numbing pain. He could still feel where he was skinned alive, where they burned him and so much more.

When he saw Kakashi in his way, instead of seeing a savior, he saw someone who was trying to bring him back to that room.

Naruto sprung forward, raising a scalpel that he had swiped as he ran through the door, and charged Kakashi in a zig-zag formation. When he reached the masked man, he tried to swipe at his throat but Kakashi stooped it by catching Naruto by the wrist, "Stop-" Kakashi's pleas for the boy to calm down were interrupted by Naruto round-housing his ribs.

Kakashi grunted in annoyance as he pinned the boys leg to his body, '_he moves like sensei!' _Kakashi thought in surprise.

Minato Namikaze had developed his own Taijutsu style, he was an orphan so he had no clan techniques, that relied on speed and being unpredictable.

Naruto didn't stop there, he threw a punch, only for Kakashi to dodge it. Naruto used his free leg and used it to kick away from Kakashi.

Naruto was panicking. He couldn't go back in that room! No matter the cost he was getting away.

Naruto took a a breath and in blind panic, he gave into instinct.

Naruto charged Kakashi again but this time he threw the scalpel as a distraction. Predictably, Kakashi dodged but it gave Naruto the opening he needed.

With a war cry, Naruto charged a beautiful spiraling ball in his right hand. He had no idea how he did it nor did he really care.

Kakashi's eyes widened underneath his mask, how in the hell was a six year old boy using the Rasengan?! Kakashi shoved the thought to the side for later, right now he had to deal with a six year old in possession with his sensei's jutsu.

Kakashi grabbed Naruto's wrist and yanked it towards the ground, causing the incomplete Rasengan to implode on itself before exploding.

Both Naruto and Kakashi were blown backwards by the explosion, Naruto landed on his head much like Hinata and got knocked out as Kakashi landed on his feet with practiced ease.

Kakashi walked towards Naruto with a sense akin to awe filling him, he had just used sensei's jutsu! It was incredible, it was indescribable how amazing what Naruto had just done! Kakashi wondered where Naruto could possibly learn the high ranking jutsu but he couldn't think of anyone. There were only three people that could use the technique and that was sensei, Jiraiya-sama. and himself. None of which had taught him the jutsu. Kakashi figured he'd have to ask him when he woke up.

He looked around for his partner and found no sense that he was anywhere nearby.

Flying through a few handsigns, Kakashi used a Doton jutsu to rearrange the earth until it looked as it did before Naruto's imperfect Rasengan. He wanted to keep Naruto's secret to protect him from Danzo and anyone else who wished Naruto harm.

Danzo was already pestering the Hokage to let him turn Naruto into a mindless weapon, if he got word of this his pestering would only worsen and if the civilian council heard about it, they'd likely call for Naruto's execution for besmirching the Yondaimes memory. Bunch of ignorant bastards.

After he finished destroying evidence, he picked Naruto up bridal style and noticed just how light Naruto was.

'_I'm so sorry little brother...' _He thought before he Shinshined to the hospital.

**And thats a rap! Hope you enjoyed the start of the story!**

**Tell me how I did, if I should keep going, what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong etc.**

**Also, you may be wondering what part does Naruto's torture play in the story. It has a big piece later on in the story but also it was to show that the instincts get stronger the more danger he's in.**

**Next chapter we have Naruto meeting Hinata and some training!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone! Let me start off by saying that I am completely and utterly in shock in the overwhelming support that I've received from this story. Last time I checked I had 205 alerts, 126 favorites and 40 reviews, for a little over 6000 words! That is practically the same as my other story and it has 6 chapters!**

**Also, I had a few people who were concerned that I was bashing people when I wasn't. (in my opinion yours may be different.)**

**With the Uchiha clans arrogance and them attacking Naruto. In the Manga they were going to rebel because people weren't treating them with the respect they thought they deserved. They believed that they deserved the world on a silver platter along with anything in it; do you really think that their going to react kindly to the village pariah besting the son of the clan head? **

**With the councils decision to not let Kakashi have custody of Naruto; If it weren't for Kakashi's biased view, the decision would be incredibly wise. Because why should one clan get the Jinchuuriki of the greatest demon of all time? What if they decided to pull what the Uchihas did and tried to rebel? They could do it with ease if they hand a properly trained Naruto backing them. It also wasn't just the civilian council that didn't want Kakashi to adopt Naruto, it was the shinobi one as well.**

**And for those of you who thought that I was making Sasuke too arrogant. I believe that Sasuke always had a superiority complex. He's the son of the clan head of one of the founding clan of Kohona, he grew up with the belief that he's better than everyone else because he's an Uchiha, he has legions of fangirls telling him how great he is, civilians are afraid of the Uchihas wrath so they treat him and every other Uchiha like a prince. That would make anyone arrogant beyond belief! He will continue to be arrogant for awhile but at some point he'll be broken out of his ways.**

**And to those who are wondering why the Kyuubi didn't help Naruto; that will be slightly answered in this chapter and fully explained in the next.**

Naruto woke to the sharp smell of medicine, alcohol, and hypodermic needles filled his lungs. Opening his eyes, and wincing at the bright light, Naruto conformed that he was where he thought he was. The hospital.

He blinked slowly in confusion. The last thing he remembered was the man who was trying to bring him back to that room then everything exploded before turning black. Naruto froze in terror when he was blindsided by the memories of what happened in that room. He tried to force the memories away but they surfaced like a sea beast rearing it ugly head, a sob escaped Naruto's lips before he crushed the tears that were attempting to escape from his eyes.

'_I'm not crying! I will never cry again!' _ He vowed, and unlike before he managed to push back the tide of tears.

Taking deep breaths, Naruto pushed himself upwards into a sitting position. He felt completely fine other than the phantom pains, he just felt nauseous.

He heard the door open and saw that it was the Hokage.

"Ahh, Naruto-kun I see your already awake." Hiruzen said hesitantly.

He had heard Kakashi and Itachi's reports on what happened, minus what Kakashi had omitted, and his heart went out to his surrogate grandson. No one should have to endure the horrors that had gone on in that cursed room, least of all a child that couldn't defend himself!

Unlike Kakashi, Itachi had spared the second Chunin and he had been interrogated by Anko and himself personally.

Even Anko had been sickened when she heard the things that they did to Naruto, and she was as twisted as they come.

Hiruzen had ordered the man to be executed, much to the outrage of Fugaku but he had no choice but to comply with Hiruzen's ruling since he was under his jurisdiction. Hiruzen had wanted to do more...much, much more but his hands were tied. Fugaku claims that he didn't order the two shinobi to do those things to Naruto and claims that they were acting on their own free will; and without proof that he was lying Hiruzen could take no action against the Uchiha clan as a whole.

Naruto looked at Hiruzen with a thousand yard stare. With eyes that belonged to shinobi that had seen one too many battles, eyes that did not belong to a child. He felt a tidal wave of shame and failure rise within his chest as he looked into Naruto's dull eyes. His eyes lost the innocence in them and a large portion of the warmth that had been in there.

He knew in that moment he had completely failed his late successor.

Naruto followed the Hokage as he sat down in the chair with his eyes. He showed no outward emotion but on the inside he was getting agitated that the Hokage was sitting so close to him. This was new to Naruto, he had always looked forward to Jiji's company before.

Hiruzen looked at Naruto with a concerned look. "How are you feeling Naruto-kun? Do you wish to talk about...what happened?" he asked, hoping the boy wouldn't keep what happened to him bottled up.

Naruto shook his head, "I'm fine." He said in the same voice as he always used but for some reason it sounded different to the Hokage. More mature, more world weary...but maybe it was to be expected.

Naruto hesitated, remembering what had happened in the room. He wanted to talk to Jiji about it but for some reason he felt afraid. He was afraid that Jiji would finally realize that Naruto was too different from the rest of the village to be around. He was terrified that if he told him what had happened then Jiji wouldn't love him anymore.

He also remembered what had happened before he was taken and how Hinata had valiantly tried to rescue him.

"Is Hinata-chan okay? She was beat up pretty bad when she tried to rescue me." Naruto asked, concern replacing the sad look on his face.

Hiruzen blinked and felt love for the boy surge, he had just been put through some of the worst torments imaginable but he was concerned about the brave young girl that had tried to save him.

In that moment, Naruto looked identical to Minato.

He smiled at Naruto, "Yes, she is doing just fine Naruto-kun. She had a concussion and required a few stitches but that is all." He said to a relieved looking Naruto. He didn't know what he would have done if she had died trying to save him.

The Hokage chuckled and earned a questioning look from Naruto, "Whats so funny?" He asked. The Hokage chuckled again, "You just reminded me of someone is all my boy." Naruto, curious of who he had reminded Jiji of asked, "Who?"

Hiruzen debated lying to Naruto, but he had already suffered enough. He refused to add on to it simply because he wanted to avoid a conversation about the boys father.

"You just reminded me of the Yondaime." He said with a smile, amused with the look of shock on Naruto's face.

"Really?" he asked in a disbelieving tone. He couldn't believe he had anything in common with his idol!

Hiruzen nodded, "Yes. Do you wish to hear how?" Naruto nodded. Hiruzen figured as long as he didn't name any important figures he could tell Naruto about his idol.

"A long time ago, at the beginning of the third shinobi war. This was also before young Minato had became Hokage or invented the jutsu that gave hime the moniker "Kohonas yellow flash," the **Hiraishin**jutsu.

When the war began Minato was a Jounin in charge of the mission of taking over and holding a bridge that would give us access Kumo for a sneak attack. Minato took over the bridge easy enough, he was immensely powerful for someone so young! However he suffered losses and only had himself and three other Jounin holding the bridge.

After the attack, Kumo was outraged that Kohona opened up a route so we could attack them, so they responded by sending out several platoons to retake the bridge. They aimed to humiliate us, showing us that any ground we take can be taken back with ease.

Minato found out about the platoons as he scouted ahead with his toad summons, when he realized that the enemy was going to try to retake the bridge, do you know what he did?"

Naruto shook his head, completely captivated by the Hokage's tale. Despite Naruto's traumatic experiences a few days earlier, he was still a six year old that enjoyed hearing a good story. And the fact it was about his hero made it even better!

"He choose to stand his ground. He knew how valuable the bridge was and he knew if they retook it than it would have been ten times harder to take it a second time because they would have more ninja guarding it.

He ordered his men to prepare for battle and he sent a messenger toad to Kohona for reinforcements.

The enemy arrived two days before the reinforcements did but Minato and his team held the bridge like the world depended on in it. They were outnumbered hopelessly but they kept fighting. They used jutsu after jutsu after jutsu, even after they were exhausted from depleted chakra.

However as the day wore on, they went down to three Jounin...then two...until it was only it was only Minato left holding the bridge against a third of a platoon.

He was heavily wounded and was on the verge of ODing from taking to many soldier pills but he still fought on. He refused to let his comrades sacrifices be in vain, so he held the bridge for an entire day all alone.

He pushed back wave after wave of enemy ninja all by himself and by the time the reinforcements got there, only a third of a third of the original amount of enemy ninja remained.

Kumo was very angry that they weren't able to retake the bridge and they decided that if they couldn't have the bridge, then no one could."

Naruto felt a pang of fear for his hero but said nothing.

"The reinforcements arrived and treated Minato for his wounds but while just about everyone one was asleep, the Kumo ninja snuck in and placed explosive tags on the bridge."

Naruto clenched the sheets, eagerly anticipating what would happen next.

Hiruzen smiled slightly as he saw this but continued, "In the middle of the night, Kumo detonated the explosive tags and immediately the bridge was demolished, luckily not many of our ninja were harmed by the initial blast because they weren't camped on the bridge but large pieces of debris rained on their nearby camp.

Minato, even though he was heavily injured, saw a large piece of debris that was going to land on a red headed ninja. With speed that he's know for, he pushed her over and chose to let the debris fall on him instead; protecting the red headed kunoichi.

The debris broke several of young Minato's bones and he passed out due to blood loss after he and the kunoichi were safe.

He awoke days later and the first thing he asked me when he woke was if the kunoichi was okay, even though he had just been put through the wringer.

You reminded me of him not only because your first concern was of another but also because like you. Minato was also an orphan." Naruto's eyes went wide at that. While everyone knew about the Yondaime's achievements not many people bothered to learn how he got started. Most assumed that he was from a small unrenowned clan but Naruto never would have thought that he was an orphan like him.

"Really? He asked in a disbelieving tone.

The Hokage nodded, "Yes, he was very much like you Naruto-kun...almost nobody believed in him." Naruto definitely couldn't believe that! Who in their right mind doubt the man who became the Yondaime? Hiruzen chuckled at Naruto's ridiculous expression before continuing, "Yes. Nobody believed that he would ever amount to anything. They all thought he was unreliable or he could never become strong because he didn't have a clan. But he never let that get to him! No matter what they did or said he kept training and training. He used their doubts as fuel and well...you know the result."

Hiruzen finished, hoping that his story would inspire the boy to look past what had happened.

Naruto was quiet. It was easy to draw parallels between the Yondaime and himself, he could see what Jiji was doing. Naruto looked down at his hands in thought, he wanted to do what the Yondaime did. Ignore the pain and the doubts and use them as fuel to continue on and do something great.

Then he began to think about how he had always wanted to be like the Yondaime...So why couldn't he just look past it? If the Yondaime could do it and become one of the greatest heroes ever, so why couldn't he? And he had even gone through worse than the late Hokage so that meant that he had even more fuel than he did! He could become stronger that the Yondaime!

Hiruzen felt a wave of pride swell in his chest as he saw a determined glint return in Naruto's eye. They no longer looked as dull as they had been mere seconds ago, though it was true that they still weren't as bright as they were before but considering what the child had gone through it wasn't surprising.

"I'm gonna surpass the Yondaime jiji! Just you watch!" Naruto exclaimed before jumping out of bed and through the window, luckily he was on the first story. He felt much better now and was eager to start his training but first he had to stop by his apartment.

The Hokage chuckled at Naruto's antics and left the room but before he could leave the hospital he was approached by a doctor.

"Hokage-sama! Could I possibly have a moment of your time? I think theres something you should see in Naruto's chart." The doctor said in a slightly urgent tone. Hiruzen looked alarmed and held out his hand and quickly examined the chart for any anomaly. His eyes went wide when he found one.

Patient: Naruto Uzumaki

Age: Six

Height: 3'9

Hair color: Blonde

Eye color: Blue

Chakra levels: High-Kage.

"This must be a mistake. Run the test again." Hiruzen said as he returned the chart. "Forgive me Hokage-sama but...we have. This is the twentieth time on four different machines." The doctor said in an almost frightened tone, he had never seen such chakra levels in any ninja. Hiruzen froze at this, could it be possible? Naruto was the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi but that shouldn't bring his chakra levels up to high-kage levels at the age of six! Even Kushina's levels weren't that high at Naruto's age!

Could it be because of the Yondaime's seal? Jiraiya had said that it also acted as a filter for the Kyuubi's chakra. He explained that once a week a small portion of the beasts chakra would be purified before mixing with Naruto's. Could it be that that small portion was enough to bring Naruto's levels up this high? It was the only answer that made any sense.

He couldn't help but to wear a small smile as he exited the building. Believing that if anyone could surpass the Yondaime...it was Naruto.

**At Naruto's apartment**

Naruto walked into his beat up looking apartment and locked the door behind him. His apartment was on the small side but in Naruto's opinion the balcony made up for it. The paint on the walls was chipping and stained in the places that weren't covered in graffiti but that was covered by dozens of posters of movies he's never seen because he wasn't allowed in the movie theater, his furniture had seen its best days long before Naruto had bought it, his bed had more holes and springs sticking out of it than there were inside of it. But he didn't mind any of that.

This was his home and he'd make the best out of it.

Naruto walked into his small kitchen to make himself some ramen before he figured out how he was going to start training. Thats when he noticed a small green scroll that was laying in the center of his table.

Naruto looked confusedly around his small apartment, wondering how someone got in here and why they left a scroll for him.

He picked up the scroll and opened it.

_6:00 AM: Physical training_

_8:00 AM: Taijutsu training _

_9:00 AM: Ninjutsu training_

_10:00 AM: 3:00 PM-Academy/library if kicked out_

_4:00 PM: Chakra Control_

_6:00 PM: Weapons training_

_7:00 PM: Kenjutsu training_

_8:00 PM: Fuinjutsu traning_

_9:00 PM: Meditation_

Naruto was surprised by the scrolls contents, he had just been wondering how he should train and here was the answer! He figured that it was the Hokage that had asked one of his ninja to break into his apartment and leave it after he had left the hospital. He was a bit annoyed that someone had broken in but he got over when he saw the kickass training he had ahead of him.

He unraveled the scroll a bit further and saw a few seals. It seemed familiar to him and he channeled a little chakra into it, following the instinct that told him to do so, and out popped more scrolls! All of which were D-ranked elemental jutsus! There were a few for each element.

Excitedly, he pumped chakra into the other three seals; one was a wooden bokken the other held sealing supplies and the last was kunai, shuriken, and a few books on Taijutsu and Kenjutsu styles, Fuinjutsu, chakra control exercise, and a book called 101 things that a shinobi need to know. His schedule outlining what he was going to be doing for his physical training was also in the pile.

Naruto was bubbling with excitement as he stared at the small pile of new training supplies that had gathered on his table. Naruto checked his clock and saw that it was only a little past four so he quickly sealed everything back up, not even thinking about how he knew how to do it, and took off to a nearby training field with his new sealing supplies, bokken and the scrolls for chakra control, Taijutsu and Kenjutsu styles, and a scroll on how to meditate.

He blew right past the hidden Kakashi right above his doorway.

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask happy that his little brother was happy with the training schedule he had laid out for him. He wanted Naruto to practice both Minato and Kushina's abilities because Naruto was the legacy of them both. He was the last Uzumaki and the last Namikaze. He deserved to be properly taught, he may have used the Rasengan but that wasn't enough to protect him from everything.

After all, you can't surpass someone as strong as Naruto's father with one technique. You have to be a well rounded ninja and Kakashi wanted to help Naruto become a well rounded ninja; that way he could achieve his dream.

After all, sensei wanted the same thing.

**Naruto**

Naruto was walking through the crowded market to get to the training ground. He alway walked this path when he went to the training ground but something was different.

People still glared at him as he walked by, but for some reason it seemed heavier. The glares had the same amount of hatred for him and animosity, it all looked the same as all ways.

However to Naruto, it felt like a heavy weight had been placed on his shoulders. He would flinch at every loud noise, ready to fight or flee at the drop of a hat. His palms were sweating furiously as he felt waves of anxiety when someone would come a little to close for his liking. His eyes were darting furiously, taking note of everything; threats, escape routes, what could be used as a weapon and what he could use to delay/distraction if someone attacked him.

Naruto was having a panic attack, though he did not know it. He was taking shallow breaths, struggling to calm his pounding heart.

Suddenly, it became to much for the boy as he broke out into a flat out sprint away from the crowded market, he knocked over a cabbage cart but he ignored the mans cries, He just had to get away!

Naruto didn't slow down until he had reached the secluded training ground, after he stopped he was racking his brain trying to figure out what had happened to him.

Naruto had never been that nervous, he had almost been petrified with fear that someone was going to try and harm him. Taking deep breaths he calmed himself.

'_I guess it may be harder to put it behind me than I thought.' _Naruto thought sadly, he desperately wanted what happened to him to stay in the past but it seemed like it had left a bigger impression on him than he had originally thought. However, He wouldn't tell anyone about the panic attacks. He would rather deal with them for the rest of his life than have the only two people that treated him with kindness look at him like everyone else.

"Maybe training will help..." He muttered to himself as he grabbed the chakra control scroll and began reading. Despite his loud and ADD ways, Naruto was a complete book worm. Not many people knew this but reading was one of Naruto's few escapes from the harsh reality that was his life. Because books would never glare at him. They never denied him his right to exist for reasons unknown to him.

No, books just simply wanted to be read! It didn't matter by who!

Naruto absorbed the knowledge from the first chapter of the scroll, the rest was blocked by some sort of seal, faster than any sponge. The first chapter was detailing the leaf chakra control exercise and the several stages of the exercise. First off, he needed a leaf and thanks to the forest he found one fairly easily.

The first step was to get it to stick to the users forehead with the use of chakra. The book said that this step only took an hour or two at most to master for children his age.

Sticking the leaf to his forehead, Naruto began to channel chakra to the point of contact. Much to his surprise, the leaf blew away from his head the moment he dropped his hand as if it was being blown away by a hurricane before burning up due to intense chakra.

Naruto blinked slowly in confusion, the scroll certainly didn't say anything about that! In mild annoyance, he grabbed another leaf and got the same result. In annoyance he grabbed another...then another...then another. He got the same result every time and he was starting to get angry. How was this a basic skill? This was freaking impossible! Thirty minutes later he was sighing to himself as he went to grab another leaf but noticed a small pebble next to the leaf he had been aiming for. Ignoring the leaf Naruto picked up the pebble and examined it thoughtfully, '_If it works with a leaf it should work with a rock, right?' _He asked himself as he placed the pebble on the tip of his finger before channeling a bit of chakra and aimed it at a nearby tree.

As expected, the pebble blew off his fingertip. However, what Naruto didn't expect was for the pebble to travel _through _the tree nor did he expect to hear a loud 'EEP' before a small girl tumbled out of the bushes a foot away from where the pebble had passed.

Naruto blinked in confusion, a little bothered at he was being spied on, but then he recognized the girl.

Hinata got up and looked at Naruto in embarrassment. She had been spying on Naruto since he arrived at the clearing, she was making sure Naruto was okay. She saw him in the crowded market and saw he looked incredibly afraid. When she saw him take off running, she followed and ditched her guard Ko.

Naruto took in Hinatas appearance. She wore her usual beige jacket that was a size or two too big and black shinobi pants with matching. However, Naruto was paying more attention to the white bandages that were wrapped around her head where it had busted open.

Hiashi had chosen for Hinata to get stitches instead of ninja medical healing because he was proud of his daughter. He made the bandages and stitches badges of honor because she had been unafraid to stand up to two Chunin ninja to protect someone. He had been slightly annoyed that it was the village Jinchuuriki but he would take it.

Naruto felt immense guilt as he looked at Hinata's bandages, remembering how hurt she had been when she tried to save him.

Hinata was blushing furiously as Naruto looked at her intently, his blue eyes taking in every detail.

"Why?" He asked in a hushed whisper. Hinata looked up in confusion, "W-what?" She asked. "Why did you try to save me?" Naruto asked his full question.

Hinata blushed and began to play with her fingers, a nervous habit she had developed, "B-because I d-didn't want them t-to hurt you N-N-Naruto-kun." She stuttered out before looking down at the ground in shame, "I'm s-sorry that I couldn't s-save you." She said in an upset tone, sounding close to tears. She was angry with herself that she hadn't been able to do more.

She looked up at Naruto, who looked as if he was questioning everything he knew about his life, with a worried expression, "D-d-did they...h-hurt y-you?" She asked, remembering the words the cruel Uchiha's had said.

A tormented look pasted over his face as Naruto looked down at the ground as well, "Yes." He answered simply.

Hinata felt like crying as her fears had been confirmed, before she could stop herself she asked, "W-what d-did they d-do?" Naruto kept looking at the ground, tears stinging at his eyes but he kept his vow, "Bad things." He answered in a broken tone.

A few upset tears leaked out Hinata's eyes, despite being so young Hinata knew what 'bad things' were due to the fact she came from a clan of ninja clan that didn't shield their children from the horrors of the harsh life of the shinobi. Without thinking about it, she crossed the distance and gave Naruto the hug he desperately needed.

All she knew was that Naruto was practically radiating sadness and she wanted it to stop. She didn't have romantic feelings for Naruto, she was six years old! That was years to soon for her to even think about boys in that way!

But Hinata was a kind soul. When she saw sadness, especially in Naruto, she wanted it to stop...and the only way she could think to plug the sadness was through physical contact.

Naruto was dumbfounded by the sensation of another person wrapping their arms around him. He could count on one hand how many times he had been hugged in his life and all of them were from Jiji. He never would have thought he would ever hug a girl, they were iky but Hinata was less so.

Naruto was so shocked by the hug that he couldn't even think to have a panic attack or feel like he was going to be attacked. Partly because Hinata was his own age and while he was bullied by kids his age he was never beaten, but mainly it was because somehow he felt like he could trust Hinata. He saw first hand that she was willing to take a beating to save him, something he's never had done for him (that he knew of)

Timidly Naruto wrapped his arms around Hinata and he just enjoyed the soothing contact. He felt his fears and worries diminish and felt something he'd never experienced before.

Acceptance.

Maybe he got it from Jiji and Iruka-sensei but he was alway afraid that if he messed up to big then they would hate him. He never had unconditional acceptance before and he found he rather liked the feeling.

They stood hugging each other for several minutes before Naruto broke the hug but he still had his hands on her shoulders.

"Thank you." He said in an honest tone. Hinata blushed but mumbled a your welcome.

Naruto dropped his arms and smiled slightly, after a few awkward seconds he said, "So ummm...Hinata-chan...would you like to train with me?" He asked in a hesitant tone, not really sure how to ask or what he should do now.

Hinata hesitated then nodded with a blush, "I-I w-would enjoy t-that Naruto-kun." She responded, not even thinking about how distressed her guard Ko was going to be thinking he lost her.

Naruto smiled before taking her hand and leading her and leading her to the tree that he had stashed the scrolls and other training equipment.

"I'm practicing chakra control right now; I'm doing the leaf training exercise but I'm having some trouble with it." He explained as he presented the scroll to her. Hinata took the scroll gratefully, not telling Naruto that she already knew how to do the exercise not only due to her clan but they had mastered the exercise last week in class. Naruto didn't know this because his teacher had kicked him out for some vague reason.

"Th-thank you Naruto-kun. I s-saw that y-you were having s-some t-trouble, w-would y-you like my h-help?" Hinata asked, hoping she wouldn't offend her new friend. Naruto smiled sheepishly, "You saw that? I guess you did when I almost shot you with that pebble...anyways, you can help me? Really?" Naruto asked.

Hinata nodded before activating her **Byakugan. **Naruto awed at seeing the Dojutsu, "Wow! Your eyes look so cool! What do they do?" He asked in an excited tone. Hinata blushed slightly at the praise at her Kekkei Genkai but explained what her eyes could do, "T-this is m-my Kekkei Genkai; the **Byakugan. **I-it allows me t-to see all around me and p-peoples chakra network, th-then I can u-use my c-clans Taijutsu s-style the Gentle fist to close a-an enemies T-Tenketsu." She explained with pride. Most people didn't know this but she was one of the earliest Hyuga's to activate their Kekkei Genkai.

Naruto wowed again before saying, "Thanks for helping me but how exactly are you going to?" Naruto wondered.

"I-I'm going t-to see h-how much c-chakra your using a-and t-tell you if your u-using to much or too l-little." She explained further. Naruto nodded and grabbed another leaf before plastering it to his forehead, "Ready?" he asked and started to mold chakra when she nodded.

Hinata could only gape as she truly paid attention to Naruto's chakra coils, earlier she had just been showing what her Kekkei Genkai looked like and couldn't see Naruto's chakra network, he had more chakra than anyone she had ever seen! And she had once looked at the Hokage's chakra coils before! She was so shocked that she completely forgot that she was supposed to be telling Naruto how much chakra to use.

"Hinata-chan? Everything okay?" he asked in a concerned tone. Hinata resembled a fish that was gasping for air and that worried Naruto.

Hinata nodded dumbly before breaking out of her stupor, "Y-yes, I'm f-fine! Ummm...your using t-to much chakra." She said, awe still evident in her tone. "How much too much?" Naruto asked.

"A-about a t-thousand times t-to much." She said, causing Naruto to sweatdropped. "Really?! That much? Hmmm...how about now?" He asked as he drastically lowered the chakra concentration.

"S-still too m-much, but your o-only about a h-hundred times too much now." Naruto lowered it again, and again and again before Hinata said that Naruto was using little enough chakra for the leaf to stick. He dropped his hand that was holding up the leaf and amazingly it didn't shoot of at a hundred miles an hour!

"Sweet! Thank you Hinata-chan!" Naruto exclaimed with the leaf still sticking to him, ecstatic that he finally got the blasted leaf to stick and it was all thanks to Hinata and her special eyes. Hinata smiled sweetly at him, happy that she could have helped, "Y-your welcome N-Naruto-kun."

Naruto beamed before grabbing a nearby leaf and presented said leaf to her, "Now you try!"

Hinata reached out to accept the leaf but before she could the two of them heard a very loud, "HINATA-SAMA!"

Hinata turned around and saw it was her absolutely furious guard Ko. "Hinata-sama, step away from the monster!" He yelled at he crossed the distance in seconds and grabbed Hinata by the wrist and yanked her away from Naruto. Hinata looked up at Ko in confusion but realization dawned on her when she realized that she was referring to Naruto.

Hinata yanked her wrist out of Ko's hand and glared up at her guard. To say that Ko was surprised by the action would be the understatement of the century. Ko had never seen the kind, gentle Hinata glare at anyone, heck he didn't even think she knew _how _to glare! Much less sending such a harsh and angry one like she was giving him right now.

"Ko-san. I would greatly ap-appre-ciate it if you would not call Naruto-kun such a cruel name." Hinata said in a mature tone, not stuttering at all except for when she tripped up over the word appreciate.

Ko was starting to question if this was really Hinata-sama at all at this point. Hinata could never go a full sentence without stuttering up a storm, and don't even get him started on the commanding tone! She almost sounded like the Hyuga heiress like she was!

Naruto looked at Hinata in surprise as well before a small smile graced his lips, "It's okay Hinata-chan. I'm use to it by now." He said and earned a sad look from Hinata, "B-but Naruto-kun..."

Naruto held up a hand, seeming ages older than he looked, "It's okay. I guess you should head home so your family wont be worried." He said with a smile.

Ko was beginning to think that someone had placed a Genjutsu on him. First the terribly shy Hinata stood up to him and glared now the demon brat was acting concerned about the Hyuga heiress. What in kamis name was going on here? Was he under some Genjutsu? Apparently not after he disrupted his chakra.

"Y-yes, Hinata-sama. You are late for training." He said, trying hurry the conversation along so he wouldn't get in more trouble with the main branch. Hinata gave Naruto one last look before nodding that she was ready to leave.

The two of them left and Naruto continued on with his training for several more hours.

Like the scroll in his apartment said, he started on his Kenjutsu training with his new bokken. He decided to start with the Kenjutsu style called the whirlpool of blades, the Uzumaki Kenjutsu style but Naruto didn't know that, and Naruto took to it like a fish to water. He practically mastered the basic katas of the style in the hour he practiced, Naruto couldn't explain it but the movements just felt natural to him. Like his body already knew what to do.

He practiced with the shuriken and kunai for awhile. He aimed at trees and leaves that were falling. His throws were dead on with still objects but he missed every other leaf.

After that he started his Fuinjutsu training and their wasn't an analogy to describe how quickly he picked up on the art. He took to it better than a duck to water, faster than a bird took to the skies, faster than a Uzumaki. Naruto absorbed the knowledge in the first chapter an understood it fully, something that was almost unheard of except for the Uzumaki and Naruto had surpassed their natural aptitude for the art.

He had blew past the seals that tried to prevent from reading ahead as he read.

He didn't learn how to make seals in the scroll but h learned the ideas behind Fuinjutsu. Lastly, Naruto began his meditation. He took up the lotus position and tried to enter his mindscape like the scroll instructed him too. However, he meet unexpected resistance. Every time he tried to enter his mindscape he was greeted by a large white wall that prevented him from entering and despite his every attempt to break through, he failed each time no matter what he did.

He spent the last hour either trying to break the wall or searching the scroll for answers but found none. He figured if he didn't find an answer in the library then he would ask Jiji about the mysterious wall.

After the final hour he packed everything up before heading back to his apartment.

**With Hinata during training**

Hinata sat in her clans dojo waiting for a lecture from her father. How he was disappointed in her for not taking her training seriously even though she was behind on her Gentle fist training. Then he would look at her with those mean, disappointed eyes, almost similar to the ones Naruto received, and he would insult her and call her a failure after an intense "training" session.

After that she would cry and seek the comfort of Naruto's presence. Though now, if she was lucky, she wouldn't have to hide behind walls or bushes. Maybe Naruto would allow her to train with him again or maybe he would even give her a hug like the one she gave him earlier!

Hinata blushed, remembering how nice Naruto had felt, she wasn't sure why she was blushing...probably embarrassment at her boldness.

Her father walked in and gave her a stern look, Hinata mentally braced herself for the lecture that was bound to come.

"Where were you for afternoon training?" Hiashi asked, already knowing the answer but wanted to hear it from his daughter. "I-I was training w-with N-Naruto-kun." she answered, already wincing to be prepared for the harsh tone.

"I see. Very well." Hisahi said, enjoying the confused look on his daughters face. Ko had informed him that Hinata went missing for an hour under his care. He also told him in great detail how Hinata had took a stand when he had insulted Naruto after he found her again. If he didn't know that Ko was too afraid to lie to him, he would have never believed him.

However, when he remembered that Hinata had courageously attacked two Chunin in the boys defense, maybe it wasn't that hard to believe after all.

Hiashi couldn't express how happy he was that Hinata was finally standing up to someone, he had been trying to get her to do that since her mother died. He had been trying to expel the crippling kindness in her through intense training that left her battered and bruised. He tried to verbally attacking her when the training didn't work, if it did anything it made her more timid and withdrawn. He was beginning to run out of ideas, everything was failing and she was in danger of loosing her title as the heiress if something didn't happen soon.

It turns out that all she needed was someone to stand up _for_! Did he wish it was someone other than the villages Jinchuuriki; yes, but he much preferred her spending time with him than her staying the timid, unconfident, shy failure that she was now.

Hinata blinked several times, wondering if her ears had deceived her, "F-father? Y-y-y-your not m-mad?" She asked, stuttering worse because she was afraid that it was a cruel joke to worsen her self confidence.

Hiashi smiled lightly, "No. If you had been doing anything other than training and if you didn't stand up to Ko, then I would be very angry. I assume that you wish to continue to train with Naruto?" Hiashi asked and received a eager nod from Hinata, "You may continue to train with Naruto on the conditions of you must not fall further behind in your gentle fist training than you already are and you must ditch Ko to do so." Hiashi said, he was impressed with Hinatas ability to lose her guard.

Ko had been specifically chosen to guard Hinata because he was incredibly talented for a branch member, only seconded to his late brothers son; Neji. Not only was he talented but being able to get away from a Hyuga was no easy task in itself; even when he was a child, he could never manage to get away from his guard for five minutes let alone almost an hour!

He wanted her to train the skill, it would be invaluable for her shinobi career. Sure, it was dangerous for her to go around unattended but Hiashi was confident that nothing would happen to Hinata as long as Naruto was around. If he was truly Minato's son then he would hold off any attackers long enough for help to arrive.

Hinata tried to keep her joy from being seen but she failed when a full blown smile was plastered on her face. Hiashi blinked in surprise, he hadn't seen Hinata this happy since before her mother died.

Hinata bowed low, "Thank you father!" she said without a stutter. Hiashi smiled internally before nodding.

"Since you missed todays training, do ten laps around the court yard." Hinata jumped up and complied.

And at the end of the day, a small grin could still be seen on her lips.

**The Next day**

Naruto was the first one in the classroom. He was feeling slightly exhausted from the borderline insane workout he had done that morning.

When he had actually read what the physical training entailed he had nearly blenched. It started off with five laps around the village then 50 pull ups that were immediately followed by a 100 push ups. Then the same number of sit ups, crunches, squats, then a variety of other exercises that he didn't know how to describe other than they were incredibly difficult and painful. It seems that whoever gave him the workout knew about his incredible stamina.

He finished on time then he instantly started on his Taijutsu training. He decided to start with the cheetah style first, it focused on lighting fast attacks and unpredictably. Right up his alley!

It had gone well, but not compared to how well and fast he had learned the other things. He had an extreme aptitude for but there were times that the movements felt awkward. On some stances, his instincts were telling him to do something different from what the scroll before him told him to do. He was confused about that but he did his best to ignore the instincts because he knew the stances were correct.

After that was Ninjutsu, his favorite! He had grabbed all the scrolls but in the end he had decide to practice the academy three. He desperately wanted to be able to shoot lighting out of his fingertips or breath fire but he knew that they weren't needed to graduate. Maybe he could get extra credit for them but they weren't priority.

He practiced the henge jutsu and the kawarimi jutsu, he decided to try the clone jutsu for tomorrow because how hard could it be? He practiced and fine tuned the henge jutsu, trying to add more small details to make it perfect (it's the solid version but it wasn't perfect yet), but didn't make much progress with kawarim**i**. He figured it was his chakra control and decided he would train that extra hard today. After he finished training, he headed back home to clean up and go to school.

He had another panic attack on the way to the academy so he deduced that the cause of the attacks were people, so he sat in the secluded corner in the back of the class while reading about the founders of Kohona. He had gotten the book from Iruka-sensei before the start of class.

Iruka was worried about Naruto. He had heard that he was kidnapped over the weekend but that was it. He didn't know by whom nor did he know what happened to Naruto during the time he was with his captors, but it had obviously traumatized the boy.

Naruto was always loud and borderline obnoxious, desperate for any kind of attention, but now he was silent. He sat in the back of the classroom even though every other seat was available and tried to avoid attention like it was the plaque. It was like his personality did a complete 180.

Iruka was going to ask if everything was okay but children began to file in and take their seats. Iruka decided to ask Naruto what happened after class.

None of the students noticed the difference in Naruto's personality switch, they all ignored Naruto anyways.

Naruto was still reading when he heard a soft voice ask him, "C-can I sit h-here?" Hinata asked. Naruto looked up from his book and smiled at Hinata, "S-sure!" He answered. Truth be told, he half expected for Hinata to avoid him during the day so that no one would know that she was friends with the "demon." Not that he minded, he was just happy to have a friend. Even if she didn't want it to be known.

Hinata smiled gratefully as she took the seat next to Naruto and paid attention to the lesson that was beginning.

Iruka was talking about the format of Genin teams and how teamwork played an important roll.

Class went by rather quickly. Some students were sending questioning looks at Naruto now, he usually disrupted a lesson at least once but today he had been silent. They also noticed that Hinata was sitting by him which confused them. Who would want to be friends with the freak? Didn't her parents tell her to stay way from him like theirs did?

It was time for their lunch break and Hinata and Naruto sat underneath the tree with the swing. They sat as far away from the other kids as they could, that way Naruto could eat in peace. Hinata was kind enough to share some of her lunch when she saw that all Naruto had was cold ramen, Naruto thanked her repeatedly and promised that he would bring something for her tomorrow.

"So dobe, it seems like you finally learned your place? It's about time, I'm glad the lessons that my cousins taught you took." Sasuke said behind Naruto, commenting on how he was silent during class. When Sasuke had told his father that he had lost to the dobe, he made Sasuke train intensely all night. If it wasn't for his mothers herbs, he wouldn't be able to stand and even with them he barely could days later. But before the intense training session, two Chunin of his clan had approached him and asked if the rumors were true.

He had been reluctant to confirm them but when he did, they promised him that Naruto would pay for embarrassing their clan. Sasuke didn't know what they did to Naruto but he was glad that he learned a lesson in humility. All of his yapping in class was annoying and he couldn't surpass his brother if there were distractions like Naruto.

Naruto froze, did he just hear what he thought he heard? Did this Uchiha teme have the audacity to say that he was _GLAD _that he was tortured for hours on end_? _

Naruto felt uncontrollable amounts of pure unadulterated rage sweep through him. Hinata looked appalled at what Sasuke had just said, she didn't know exactly what happened to Naruto at the hands of his cousins but she had a vague idea.

Naruto had never been this angry, he wanted to beat the Uchiha down until he had the same texture as pudding. He blamed Sasuke for what happened to him. If Sasuke hadn't told anyone that he lost or if he had been better and beaten him, then Naruto wouldn't had to endure hell at the hands of his cousins.

Naruto was getting up to beat the living daylights out of Sasuke when Hinata placed a hand lightly on his wrist, Naruto looked at Hinata with an angry/confused look. He was slightly annoyed that she was trying to stop him from giving the Uchiha a good pounding but he knew she must have a reason for it.

Hinata blushed slightly before saying, "D-don't Naruto-kun. H-he's not worth it." Naruto wanted to argue, to say that the teme deserved to have his face smashed in, but if he thought about it she was right.

Not only would his family come after him again if he knocked Sasuke into next week but he would disappoint Hinata and Sasuke simply wasn't worth that. He also knew that Hinata didn't mean that when she said he wasn't worth it, she probably meant some deep reason like he would be no better than them if he did but Naruto was far more concerned Hinata's opinion of him.

Naruto sat back down with a huff, sending Sasuke a glare as he did so. Hinata smiled at him before offering him a cinnamon bun that she had snuck in her lunch and Naruto accepted, they were both totally ignoring the fuming Sasuke.

How dare they say that _he's _not worth something? Who did these two losers think they were? He was an Uchiha, they were dirt underneath his feet.

His father had all but beaten the ideals that the Uchiha clan were kamis greatest gift to ever be bestowed onto mankind. They were Kohona's elite and that everyone else that wasn't an Uchiha was trash that should only be associated with if it couldn't be avoided.

His older brother tried to tell him that the clans ideals were wrong but Sasuke would have none of it. His older brother was as strong as he was because he was an Uchiha and one day Sasuke was going to surpass him.

Sasuke clenched his fists in anger, before he knew it he flung himself at Naruto; nobody insults him and gets away with it! He was an Uchiha! He was the best, his father told him so!

Sasuke tackled Naruto from behind, causing him to tumble over. Naruto landed on his back and Sasuke was above him, Sasuke threw a punch at Naruto's face but Naruto had grabbed his wrist and made him hit the ground next to his head. Naruto punched upwards and hit Sasuke in the mouth before he placed a foot on his stomach and threw him over.

Both boys scrabbled to get up first to attack one another. Sasuke had somehow regained his balance first and lunched another fist at him, trying to repay Naruto for the punch. However, before the punch could make contact with Naruto's cheek, a blue haired girls jumped in front of the attack.

The blow knocked Hinata sideways, she had tried stop the two boys from fighting since there were no teachers around that could see the fight, but she had jumped in to late and got hit instead.

Naruto saw red as he glared bloody murder at the Uchiha before him and went to pound him into next year but Hinata had grabbed his wrist again. She looked up at him with pleading eyes, she knew that Naruto could get hurt again if he beat the teme up again, "P-please don't f-fight Naruto-kun." She asked in a pleading voice. Naruto clenched his fist in anger, he glared at the Uchiha. Oh how he wanted to completly demolish Sasuke for harming his one friend, but what do you do when said friend is asking you not to hurt the person that hurt her?

"Your lucky Hinata-chan doesn't want me to hurt you...but if you _ever_ hurt her again...I'll kill you." Naruto said in a threatening tone. His voice growling deeper until it was almost a growl, it was almost inhuman. Hinata-chan protected Sasuke this time from his wrath, but he would not let Hinata get hurt by the blasted Uchiha again.

Sasuke felt a shiver go down his spine at the threat. Naruto said the words with complete and utter certainty it was as if there would be no doubt about his death at Naruto's hands.

Swallowing his fears, like his father instructed him to, Sasuke scoffed, "Yeah right dobe." He kicked over Hinata's lunch and spilled its few content on the grass, "Just you try it. Who knows, maybe I'll have my cousins teach you another lesson on where your place is freak." Sasuke insulted before cockily walking off.

If it weren't for Hinata's hand firmly on his wrist he would have murdered the teme then and there. After he left, Hinata let go of Naruto's wrist and he helped Hinata clean up her lunch before they did the same but before they entered Hinata said, "I-I'm sorry for stopping y-you but-" Hinata began, fearing that Naruto would be mad at her but Naruto stopped her with a hand again. "Don't worry about it Hinata-chan, you were right. Trash like him isn't worth it but if he _ever_ hurts you again...I _will _kill him." He said in a tone that made him sound like an adult making a promise.

Hinata gave Naruto a shy look, she was slightly nervous that Naruto was saying that he was going to kill someone but at the same time she was thankful that he was willing to go to such lengths to protect her. "Is your cheek okay?" he asked dropping the tone before giving the relieved looking and nodding Hinata a lopsided grin, "Do you think you could train with me after school today?" He asked.

Hinata hesitated then nodded, she was already forming plans to ditch Ko.

Naruto smiled before grabbing her hand and lead both of them back to class.

**So ends the second chapter. Thanks again for all the support and especially senjuuchiha for the glowing review and for agreeing to be an advisor for this story!**

**To answer your questions about Naruto's high chakra levels; chakra is the combination of physical and spiritual energies. I translated this into physical endurance and experience. Naruto has the experience of two kage level shinobi, even if he's lacking in the physical endurance (compared to the experience). Lets not forget that he's also an Uzumaki, a clan known for their chakra reserves! He's also the Jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi, so in truth, I'm actually robbing Naruto of how high his chakra should be. If you put all that together then Naruto's reserves should be high-kage 4 or 5 times over if not more. I'm giving him the bear minimum so he won't be over-powered so soon.**

**And just incase if your wondering why Naruto is having a tougher time learning Taijutsu; its because he's having conflicting instincts. Minato and Kushina had two different Taijutsu styles and his body is telling him to combine the two, but Naruto doesn't know that. **

**Like I said at the top, the reason Naruto can't enter his mindscape will be explained next chapter.**

**Leave a review!**

'**till next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a month since Naruto started training to surpass his idol and the progress he made was inconceivable. He was the greatest prodigy in hundreds of years, though no one knew he wasn't a natural one.

Naruto had made unbelievable progress in every field that he trained in. Surprisingly, the seals that prevented him from reading further would dissipate once he mastered the level he was on. He didn't know how the seal knew when he mastered the level but he aimed to find out as he furthered his Fuinjutsu studies.

He mastered the basic and adept levels of the cheetah fist and the whirlpool dance styles. The whirlpool dance was much like his Kenjutsu style, the whirlpool of blades style, and Naruto figured that they were created by the same people. He trained in the basics until they were no longer instinct; he trained them until they were reflexes.

His instincts still occasionally acted up but for the first time he ignored them. Though the instincts were impeding his progress in Taijutsu a great deal, Naruto was still excelling at everything else.

His physical conditioning increased as well. He had been able to double the original schedule now. Because of his Uzumaki heritage and the Kyuubi's yang chakra in him, Naruto healed at an abnormal rate and he knew it. Because he healed so quickly, Naruto didn't bother restricting his training. He knew he would heal, so why bother holding back?

He trained his body into the ground, day after day. There was a saying by the Shodai Hokage that described Naruto perfectly in that regard: "There is one thing more frightening than someone who knows their limit...Someone who knows that they don't have one."

He was building muscle thanks to the lunches that Hinata packed for him every day. He was still lean but he was no longer a waifish twig.

He still went to the academy daily, but he completely disregarded everything they tried to teach him. He only listened when it was Iruka-sensei teaching, but he already knew most of the things Iruka taught. Naruto only bothered to show up because of Hinata-chan. He wanted to keep her company during the boring classes and wanted to keep an eye on the teme to make sure he didn't try something.

Naruto and Sasuke didn't have a rivalry going, because that would mean that they were close in skill level. Naruto repeatedly crushed Sasuke in everything: accuracy, spars, jutsu, grades (The teachers had been promised a very painful and bloody end, if they continued to try to sabotage Naruto's education, from a certain masked ninja). Naruto crushed Sasuke in absolutely everything much to Sasuke's anger. Sasuke had tried to get the same two ninja that had taught Naruto a lesson before to do it again, but he couldn't find them. He had tried to find other ninja to do the task, but they had all refused.

The Hokage had released the statement that if any ninja should physically harm Naruto then not only would they be executed, but their names would be stricken from Kohona's records and would be buried in unmarked graves. That had caused more than a little unrest in the village but the Hokage's word was law.

Naruto knew that Sasuke tried to find more people to torture him, so he would insult his fellow student every chance he got. Hinata understood why Naruto did it, but it seemed petty to her.

Sasuke tried to defend himself and his pride but there was really nothing he could do. Naruto was better than him at everything; he had tried to verbally attack Hinata to compensate, but that stopped after the first time. Naruto had snapped his arm like a twig and told him never to insult Hinata-chan.

He meant what he said; if Sasuke so much as harmed one hair on her head then he would kill him along with anyone else that got in his way. Hinata was the only person he could trust fully and he would protect her for the rest of his natural life. And if he had any say in the matter, his unnatural one as well.

His chakra control was coming along well, also thanks to Hinata. Every day she would ditch her guard, Ko-teme and help him with it in the two hours that he practiced the art. It turns out she was just as crafty as Naruto, with the proper motivation.

He had mastered all levels of the leaf exercise as well as the tree walking exercise. Hinata was also improving her chakra control; not only could she walk up walls, but she was in the process of learning water walking as well. She could stay shin deep without falling in, but only for a minute or so. It was much harder than walking up trees and, with her six-year-old reserves, she couldn't do it longer than five minutes anyways.

Hinata and Naruto also were forced to train on the go. It turns out that Hiashi hadn't informed Ko about the deal with Hinata training with Naruto. He chased them relentlessly and in order to spend more time with Naruto; they never spent more than an hour at a clearing and never trained in the same place twice. They're record was four hours.

Naruto's kenjutsu was coming along swimmingly. He had flew through the basic and adept levels and was working on expert. He had offered to teach Hinata the style, but she had politely refused; the gentle fist required the use of both hands for maximum effectiveness.

Hinata's gentle fist was also coming along well. She made up the lost ground in her training and then some. Every other day Naruto would skip either weapons training or kenjutsu to help her out. He more or less acted like a test dummy. He would dodge and deflect attacks as Hinata would play around with the stances.

Naruto had commented that the normal gentle fist style didn't seem to fit her with the quote: "You don't fight like you're all constipated like the rest of your clan." After that, she altered some of the stances to flow more like water instead of the rigid stances.

Naruto's Fuinjutsu training defied explanation. He absorbed anything related to the art with vengeance. He flew through the scroll, but the scroll didn't contain any formulas for actual seals. It was more of an introduction; outlining the types of seals and the purpose they served, much to Naruto's disappointment.

After it turned out the scroll had served its use, Naruto began to expand his knowledge base of the art in the library and learned about the other types of seals, theories, history, and anything that had anything to do with the art. However, due to his civilian status, there wasn't much on Fuinjutsu that he could access. He knew about other kinds of seals, but he could not make them because he had neither the formula nor the general design for them. The books in the library and in the scrolls only talked about Fuinjutsu users and the history with a dash of the basics.

So Naruto did exactly what the books and scrolls warned not to do under any circumstance: he experimented with only the basics. He tried to recreate seals by developing the same formulas by trial and error.

The seal he was making the most progress in developing was a gravity seal that he could use in his training, but he was still developing many more.

In ninjutsu he also excelled thanks to Hinata. He had mastered henge and kawarimi, but he was having extreme trouble with the clone jutsu, even with Hinata's help. She had informed him that he had insanely high chakra levels and that even with her help it may be impossible to mold so little chakra. Naruto had been disheartened to hear that, but, in the end, he had gotten something cooler.

He had been practicing the clone jutsu, trying to do the impossible, and summon two clones. After he managed two dead ones, Naruto's instincts started to act up again.

He had been confused at first when he followed them and ended up with crossed fingers. He had never seen this hand-sign before and wondered what it could possibly do. Naruto figured that he should find out and channeled chakra to his hands to perform the jutsu.

A poof of smoke later Naruto saw a sickly looking clone, but not even close to the dead ones he had been producing.

"Ugh...I don't feel to good boss." The clone said, shocking Naruto. "You can talk?" Naruto asked in surprise. Normal clones couldn't talk. Did this mean that this clone was different? Moreover, how did his instincts know how to perform this jutsu? It was one thing to have instincts on how to throw a kunai but it was an entirely different story to have instincts telling you how to perform some unknown jutsu that you've never seen before! His musings were cut short by his clone responding.

The weak looking clone nodded, "Yeah... I can, but could you dispel me? I feel like I'm about to spew!" The clone exaggerated. Naruto looked slightly panicked, he didn't want to get vomited on, "How?" he demanded over and over, waving his hands in front of him as if that would stop the clone from vomiting.

"Just...give me a...pinch!" He said as he blew out his cheeks suggestively. Naruto quickly obliged and the sickly clone disappeared after Naruto gave him a pinch on the shoulder. Then he realized something, he could feel the clone! It was solid! What kind of jutsu did he just use?

Naruto was giddy with excitement as he continued to hone the new and mysterious jutsu.

At the end of Ninjutsu training, he had more or less mastered the jutsu. He found it oddly easier to use it in large numbers.

He had gone to school and demonstrated his new technique for Hinata and she was impressed with it to say the least. She had never heard of solid clones before and she was only more impressed when she realized that she couldn't tell the difference between the clones and the original.

Naruto had yet to figure out the unknown jutsu's special ability yet, but all in good time.

Naruto was still at a dead-end with the meditation. He was still stuck at the first step and he thought it was finally about time to go ask Jiji for some help, which is why he was on his way to the Hokage tower right now.

Naruto arrived at the tower minutes later, walking right past the receptionist that was telling him that he couldn't just walk in because the Hokage was busy.

"Yo! Jiji!" Naruto called into the office as he walked through the door. Hiruzen was sitting at his desk, several large stacks of paperwork on both sides of him. He rose an eyebrow, curious to why Naruto was giving him a surprise visit, "Hello Naruto-kun, what are you doing here?" Hiruzen asked, dismissing the angry receptionist with a wave of his hand.

"I need your help with my training. My meditation won't work!" Naruto said, causing Hiruzen's eyebrow to rise further. He had no idea about the mysterious scrolls that made their way into Naruto's home so he had no idea how far he had come.

"Meditation?" Hiruzen repeated, wondering what kind of training Naruto was doing, "Why are you meditating?" He asked. Meditation was usually something that higher clan shinobi did, not six year old boys that struggled to sit still.

Naruto's brow furrowed in confusion, this entire time he thought it had been Jiji who had provided him with the training. "You don't know, but you gave me that training schedule!" Naruto exclaimed. If Jiji didn't do it, then who did?

Hiruzen puffed on his pipe, "No... That was not me Naruto-kun. But why don't you tell me what you have been doing for your training?" He asked. Maybe that would give him clues as to who was training Naruto.

Naruto nodded, "Well, after I got out of the hospital a month ago, I went to my apartment to go grab some training clothes. When I walked in I saw a green scroll on my table and it was full of kicka...butt training! I've already mastered the basic and adept levels in everything in the scrolls though, and I've finished the one in fuinjutsu. Could you get me more scrolls on it? It's my favorite. Anyway, it had stuff full of fuinjutsu, kenjutsu, taijutsu, jutsu's, chakra control, and meditation scrolls and books that I learned from. It also had me doing laps around the village and other exercises, but I've pretty much doubled what it told me to do originally!" Naruto said with pride.

Hiruzen blinked slowly. By the sounds of it, Naruto had been a little more than busy since their conversation in the hospital.

He knew that Naruto had been training quite a bit when he had heard that he had broken Fugaku's second son's arm with ease. He still remembered the fuss that the Uchiha had kicked up over that. And did he say that he had mastered the basic and adept levels in all those things in a month? How was that even possible?

The more Hiruzen thought about it, the more he realized that Naruto was likely exaggerating, showing him that he was making progress even though it wasn't really necessary.

"Oh that certainly is impressive Naruto-kun! What kenjutsu and taijutsu styles are you learning?" He asked, thinking that may give him some clue as to who had given Naruto the training.

"I'm learning the cheetah style and the whirlpool dance style for taijutsu, for kenjutsu I'm learning whirlpool of blades!" Naruto said proudly.

Hiruzen knew in that moment he was going to have a talk with a certain silver haired, masked ninja. Those were Minato and Kushina's taijutsu styles and Kushina's kenjutsu style and he'd know them anywhere.

"Impressive, Naruto-kun! I'm very proud that you're taking your training seriously. However, could you possibly bring those scrolls to me when you have a chance? I would like to see how far you've progressed." Hiruzen said with a smile. He wanted to use the scrolls as evidence to get Kakashi talking. He was very stubborn when it came to things he didn't want to talk about and the God of Shinobi had a felling this would be one of those things.

"Sure!" Naruto dug into the cargo pocket of his shorts and produced the scroll before bringing it to Hiruzen. He opened the scroll and gave it a quick look over, impressed with the thorough training that touched on everything save for genjutsu. He channeled chakra into the seals and went through them as well. He was slightly angry with Kakashi at this point. Who gives a child access to the expert levels of ninja arts when they haven't mastered the basics! Thankfully, he had blocked off the master levels with one of Minato's seals or he'd be in for the lecture of a life time. The Fuinjutsu scroll and the meditation scroll didn't have a seal but that was okay; they were more focused on introduction than practice.

"Now can you help me out with my meditation?" Naruto asked, hoping to finally get past the first step. Hiruzen nodded, "Of course Naruto-kun. Now, what is the problem? Can't sit still long enough?" The Hokage joked and got an eye roll from Naruto.

"No! Every time I try to enter my mindscape like the scroll tells me too, I get blocked by this weird white wall. I've tried every day for a month to break through it, but nothing works! Do you know what's wrong, Jiji?" Naruto asked with a twinge of desperation. If Jiji didn't know how to help him, then he'd never figure it out.

Hiruzen frowned. He definitely knew the white wall that Naruto was speaking about, though he had no idea why Naruto would have one. The white wall was an anti-interrogation technique that prevented anyone from entering the bearers mind so no one could extract information. Most high-ranking ninja had this and all ANBU did, since they would know more secrets about the village than lower ranked shinobi.

"Yes, I do know what it is, however it will be no easy task to break through." Hiruzen said, thinking that a talented Yamanaka would be able to wear down the wall. They've done it before and Hiruzen was willing to bet that they could do it again. Plus, the Yamanakas were known for both their interrogation abilities and psychiatry talents. They could check up on Naruto to see how he was coping with what happened. He had been trying to get Naruto to talk about what happened, but met no success. Maybe a trained psychiatrist/interrogator would have better luck.

A determined glint shined in Naruto's eye, he didn't care how hard it was! He was going to break down that wall and master meditation as he had everything else!

Hiruzen was hit with a blast from the past. Minato would get that exact same look when he would set himself on a course and neither heaven nor hell could deter him from reaching his goal. It was almost frightening how similar the two were and yet Naruto had so much of Kushina in him as well. He seemed to have inherited the best of both parents.

He smiled at the boy, "I'll arrange for you to meet the people that will help you tear down the wall. Do you know the flower shop called "Yamanakas?" He asked thinking that Inoichi really could have thought of a better name for the flower shop that his clan ran. Naruto nodded vigorously, "Could you be there around 6 o'clock tomorrow?" Hiruzen asked, knowing that was Inoichi's free time. Naruto nodded again and shouted his thanks before leaving to tell Hinata the good news.

"ANBU," Hiruzen said the moment the door closed. As always, two ANBU showed up in the middle of the office. "Fetch me Kakashi," he commanded.

Soundlessly the two ANBU members disappeared.

Minutes later three ANBU members appeared in his office, though Kakashi was in "civilian" clothes. He wore his usual mask and matching dark blue shinobi pants and long sleeved shirt.

"Hello Hokage-sama. You called?" Kakashi said in a sleepy tone, he had just gotten back from a month long mission in Iwa. The details weren't that important, but he was tired out and was looking forward to sleeping before the Hokage called for him via ANBU.

"Leave us," Hiruzen commanded his bodyguards and everyone save the Hokage and Kakashi left the room.

Hiruzen stared at the unconcerned looking Kakashi, "You disobeyed a direct order, Kakashi," Hiruzen growled. There were a few things worse than ninja who disobeyed direct orders in his opinion. Kakashi, still looking sleepy and unconcerned, said, "Oh? What order would that be Hokage-sama?" He asked in a painfully fake innocent tone.

"I gave you strict orders that under no circumstances were you to have any contact with Naruto Uzumaki," Hiruzen said, getting annoyed with Kakashi's disrespect. It was one thing to be disrespected by his surrogate grandson, but it was a whole different story to be disrespected by a nearly grown man.

"Hmmm... That's not the order I remember you giving me, Hokage-sama. If memory serves me, you ordered me never to speak to Naruto," Kakashi said with an eye smile.

Hiruzen silently cursed Kakashi and his ability to find a loophole in everything.

"I would call you leaving a scroll in Naruto's apartment a form of communication and that's close enough to speaking in my book." Hiruzen said, trying to turn the pressure back on Kakashi.

Kakashi's eyes widened in fake surprise, "Is that where that went? I've been looking all over for that!" He exclaimed half heartily, not bothering to put as much effort into lying as he usually did.

Kakashi knew it wasn't good for his career for him to sass the Hokage... Or healthy, for that matter. However, in a way he blamed what happened to Naruto on the Hokage. If he had allowed him custody than none of those things would have happened to Naruto. He would have protected him from those blasted Uchihas, even if it was the last thing he did.

It was Hiruzen's turn to give Kakashi a dull stare, "I find it hard to believe that a shinobi who made Jounin at the age of 13 had the sudden urge to master the basics of meditation and Fuinjutsu." He commented in an annoyed tone.

Kakashi chuckled lightly, "Well, I did become a Genin at 5...maybe I wanted to brush up on the basics."

"Naruto said he found this in the center of his table. Care to explain how you managed to 'drop' it there?"

"Gravity is such a fickle thing."

Hiruzen sighed loudly as he began to pack his pipe with tobacco, "I'm not mad that you gave Naruto a training regimen to follow. If anything, I'm thankful. Naruto wishes to surpass his father and with what you laid out for him he has a chance. But what I cannot abide is you carelessly giving Naruto access to expert level techniques without making sure he mastered the basics. You're lucky that you sealed the master rank or I would have half a mind to strip you of your rank of ANBU," the Hokage threatened, switching tactics. It was true that he was more concerned with Kakashi putting Naruto in danger with the training than he was about him making contact with Naruto. If anything, he expected Kakashi to disobey that order years ago.

Kakashi's reaction was not the one Hiruzen had been expecting. He expected to see alarm, regret, fear, anger...all of those were far more understandable than the one he had received.

Confusion.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes in true puzzlement, "Hokage-sama, what are you talking about?"

Hiruzen also looked slightly confused at Kakashi's odd reaction. "Naruto showed up in my office mere minutes ago and showed me scrolls that only had the master levels sealed off," he explained again, honestly baffled with Kakashi's confused tone.

'_No... It can't be possible_!' Kakashi thought. "May I see the scrolls, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked, abandoning his dis-respective tone.

Hiruzen tossed the scroll. He wanted to see where Kakashi was going with this.

Kakashi immediately opened the scroll and unsealed the scrolls in them, examining each one. His one visible eye grew wider with each scroll. '_This can't be possible_!' He denied.

"Explain what is going on Kakashi," Hiruzen commanded. Kakashi looked like he had seen a ghost.

"The thing is, I did seal off everything but the basics," Kakashi said, large amounts of awe and disbelief in his tone.

Hiruzen's brow furrowed in confusion. "Then what happened to them?" He asked, trying to figure out Kakashi's point.

"I used a seal that sensei had developed during the war.

Whenever he had a solo mission and we still needed to be trained, he would use this seal on a training exercise scroll. The seal wouldn't let us past the level we were at on the exercise we were on. If we were working on chakra control, we would be able to read the first chapter but the second would only be available to us if we fully mastered the first level."

Hiruzen's eyes widened as he caught on to what Kakashi was saying, Naruto's explanation of how far he had come ringing around his skull like a bell.

Was it possible? Could Naruto truly master that much that fast?

"Hokage-sama... In case you didn't manage to see through my clever lie, I left this for Naruto... But this was supposed to last several months! A year possibly! To manage to learn this much in a month..." Kakashi swallowed, "Naruto is a prodigy like no other. He makes me and Itachi look like jokes!" He held up a scroll, "He's working on tree walking already and he's mastered the basics and introduction to Fuinjutsu!" He cried. It was one thing to use the Rasengan, but to truly master so much in so little time...

Hiruzen puffed on his pipe. "Kakashi... This never leaves this room," he said, his tone sharp. Kakashi nodded in agreement. He knew who the Hokage was trying to keep Naruto's talents from. "Hai, but what do we tell otoutu? He's not going to like having to keep his abilities hidden. Especially if they mock him and he could easily wipe the floor with them," Kakashi commented.

Hiruzen nodded in agreement. "I will have a talk with Naruto-kun after he gets back from the Yamanakas to wear down a mental wall." He looked up at Kakashi, "Did you have anything to do with that?" He asked, thinking that could really be the only explanation as to why Naruto had an anti-interrogation wall in his mind. However, Kakashi shook his head, "I don't know anything about that."

Hiruzen sighed, "If that is all then you are dismissed Kakashi." Kakashi nodded and turned to leave the room, but whipped back around when he heard the whistling of a kunai.

He turned around just in time for the kunai to miss his leg, but it tore open his pocket. Kakashi looked at the Hokage with a puzzled expression, but Hiruzen just chuckled before he tossed him the green training scroll and a blue one as well. "When you're tailing Naruto, be sure not to put those in your pocket. It's a little project I have going on. I've been trying to think up of an effective training regimen for an Uzumaki and a young Hyuga. I would have given it to them myself but I wanted it this project a secret and haven't found the time to deliver it myself," Hiruzen said in a fake tone, causing Kakashi to eye smile. "Of course not Hokage-sama!" he said as he left the room, thinking that it really wasn't necessary to ruin his favorite pair of pants.

**The next day at six**

Naruto walked into the flower shop, thankful that he could get off the crowded streets. He walked slightly warily because he didn't see Jiji in the flower shop.

He approached the counter, searching the room for threats but disguised it as him looking at the many flowers before he went up on his tip-toes and rang the bell.

Moments later a woman walked through the door, "How may I..." She looked down at Naruto in a slightly disgusted expression. "...help you?" she finished. Naruto blinked in surprise that she didn't try to grab him by the ear and toss him out like the other store owners did but he responded as quickly as he could. "I ummm...The Hokage t-told me to be here around six," he stammered out, his anxiety flaring at the prospect of having to talk to someone other than Jiji or Iruka-sensei.

The woman's face remained impassive. "A moment please," she said as she returned to the back room and moments later she came back with a fellow blonde man and a six year old Ino.

Ino shriveled up in disgust as she saw Naruto. "What are you doing here weirdo! Go away!" She yelled at an uncaring Naruto.

Inoichi scolded his daughter. "Ino! What have I told you about being rude! Apologize right now!" he scolded. Ino's parents never told Ino to be mean to Naruto. They never encouraged her to become friends with him or anything, but they never told her to hate Naruto. Ino was one of Naruto's lead bullies anyway. She followed how everyone else mistreated Naruto and used it as a tool to seem cooler.

Ino mumbled an, "I'm sorry," but by the glare she was giving Naruto, he doubted that she meant it. It didn't matter anyway; Ino's opinion of him meant nothing. There were only four opinions that mattered to him: Jiji's, Iruka-sensei's, Hinata's, and his own. Everyone else could fall off a cliff for all he cared.

Inoichi smiled apologetically at Naruto. "Sorry about that. She sometimes forgets her manners! Well, we have an appointment to keep so if you would follow me!" he said as he walked towards his office. Naruto followed behind him but he was ready for trouble. He had a kunai tucked in his sleeves, ready to defend himself.

They walked into a room that looked like the stereotypical therapist office. Inoichi sat in the chair and offered Naruto the odd looking couch thing. As Naruto laid down, Inoichi began. "So Naruto, I hear that you've been unable to enter your mindscape because of a white wall?" he summarized. Hiruzen had already given him the lowdown but he wanted to confirm it with Naruto.

Naruto nodded, wishing he would get on with whatever he was going to do. Inoichi nodded, taking note how tense Naruto looked. "Okay then, to break through the wall I'm going to have to touch you. Is that okay?" he asked, noticing the alarmed and suspicious look that passed over Naruto's face before he nodded. He also noticed how Naruto's left arm tensed before noticing an odd bulge and had the sneaking suspicion that they boy was armed but Inoichi paid that no mind. After all, what harm could an untrained child do?

Inoichi reached out, placing his hand on the boy's head before activating one of his clan's jutsu and dove into the boy's mind.

Inoichi appeared in a vast, white, empty nothing. He looked around with some puzzlement. This was more than some mere wall keeping Naruto or anybody out of his mindscape. This was one of the most advanced "walls" that he'd ever seen! This was kage level, easily! It was less of a wall but more of a white covering that prevented anyone from seeing anything.

Now that begged the question: why would Naruto have such a wall? What could a child possibly know that would warrant a wall so advanced that it would even keep the bearer out of their own mindscape?

Inoichi thought about it, '_Could it have to do with the Kyuubi? Did the Yondaime put this up to protect Naruto from the demon_?' he wondered. It was the most likely situation. Then Inoichi began to wonder if he should even try to meddle with the wall. If the Yondaime put it up then he must have had a reason. Even if he did meddle with it, it could take over a month to break it down.

He sighed, knowing that in the end it really wasn't his decision. The Hokage had asked him to break down this wall so it wouldn't impede Naruto's training.

He sighed again as he flew through hand-signs and called out, "**Mind Erosion Jutsu**!" before placing his hand down on the ground.

The effect was immediate as the white floors began to turn gray then black. The effect began to spread the longer he kept the jutsu up.

This confused Inoichi greatly. Even though the "wall" was immense and refused entry to everyone, it was fairly easy to break down.

When he started the jutsu, he was expecting at best to maybe get an inch or two but he already had a few feet going at this point. '_Maybe it's a side effect of the seal that keeps the Kyuubi in or maybe it wasn't meant to last? Minato used the jutsu once in his life so he wouldn't know all the side effects of the sealing_,' he deduced and continued eroding the wall away.

It was hours before Inoichi had ended the jutsu and pulled out of Naruto's mind due to chakra exhaustion. He had made significant progress in eroding the wall. Now instead of seeing nothing but white, you could see the basic outlines of what seemed to be a sewer and milky colors.

The sewer, if it was that, setting had worried Inoichi greatly. The mindscape of a person reflected his or her outlook on life. For example, his was a field of flowers and Ino's was Konoha's park; both showed very healthy mental health and happy dispositions. A sewer reflected quite badly on mental health.

Truth be told, Inoichi had only seen such settings in shinobi who were captured by the enemy or the criminally insane.

Though, in a way he wasn't surprised. Naruto was hated by all but a few and had been a victim at the hands of the Uchiha. So he really shouldn't have been surprised at the grim setting.

"Did it work?" Naruto asked, it felt like ages had gone by since the fellow blonde began the weird jutsu on him. At first, he had thought the man was just screwing with him and wasn't helping at all but a few minutes after he placed his hand on his head, it began to tingle like crazy. It was like his whole head had fallen asleep and was waking up with that sharp pin prick felling. It lasted for a while but it had stopped now.

Inoichi looked thoughtful, "Yes and no. The wall isn't completely gone yet but it's been severely weakened. It may take one or two more tries to completely erode it." Inoichi said, giving Naruto a small smile.

Naruto's face remained impassive but on the inside he was jumping for joy! He could finally master meditation now!

Inoichi was a bit disturbed by the lack of reaction but maybe he could get an answer to that as well now that he was starting the second phase of his mission.

"Now, Naruto. I understand that you were kidnapped a month ago. Do you wish to talk about it?" Inoichi asked in a disarming tone that almost always worked.

However, Naruto tensed. He had heard tones like that before and if it didn't come from Jiji or Iruka-sensei, then it always meant trouble for him.

"No," he answered curtly, hoping that would be the end of the conversation.

Inoichi smiled sweetly at him, giving Naruto his best "You-can-trust-me" look before saying, "I know that you must have been really scared but it's okay to talk about it! Even the best ninja get scared and they talk about it, so there's no need to feel embarrassed. Plus, I'm sworn to secrecy so no one will ever know!"

Naruto gave him an "Are-you-kidding-me?" look before he hopped of the chair. "We're done here," he said as he showed himself out.

Inoichi blinked in surprise, dumbfounded why that wouldn't work. It always worked with kids! Then he remembered a very important detail.

Naruto wasn't like normal children. He would be immune to all of his charms by now. If he wasn't then he would have likely gone insane from people betraying him so often.

He sighed as he pinched his nose in frustration, angry with himself for making such a rookie mistake before he set off to deliver the news to the Hokage.

**With Naruto**

Naruto walked into his apartment before kicking the door close. His apartment was much cleaner than it had ever been before, which was Hinata's influence. Naruto wanted to impress her and he knew girls didn't like messes so Naruto had started to clean regularly.

He yawned loudly as he headed to his bed. It was a little past 9. The appointment had taken far longer than he had thought. Naruto was a little annoyed that he wouldn't get to practice meditation that night. He had toyed with the idea of staying up late and practicing anyway but he decided against it. A ninja needed a good night's rest so he'd leave it for tomorrow. Plus Ino's dad said it may take another session to fully get rid of the wall.

He walked towards his bed, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a familiar green scroll along with a new blue one. He changed course with excitement as he picked up the new blue scroll. He already knew what the green one had in it.

_Naruto, I've developed a training schedule for you and Hinata. Inside the storage seals are training supplies such as weights, training weapons, targets, and books that will help you in your shinobi careers. _

_I hope you know that I am incredibly proud of you for training so hard in the past month, however, please do not abuse your power. Not only would it cause a headache for me, but the strong should never pick on the weak. I hope you remember that when you surpass the Yondaime._

_Sincerely, Hiruzen Sarutobi._

Under Jiji's note was an explanation of how to unseal the thing, but he didn't need it. Naruto smiled brightly at reading Hiruzen's note. It was like Jiji had no doubt that he would surpass the Yondaime! He was also immensely happy that Jiji had also made a training schedule for Hinata.

They had been more or less making it up as they went along and in Naruto's opinion, he was gaining more than she was and that bothered him immensely. However, when he voiced his concerns to Hinata she had told him that she was happy with her progress, but Naruto still felt he was taking advantage of her.

If Naruto knew the truth, he would realize that in many ways she was surpassing his progress, though not in ninja arts. Her self-confidence has been steadily increasing and she was losing some of her timidness. It was likely that she would always be a soft-spoken person, but she could make a stand when she needed to.

Naruto opened up the scroll further and unsealed some of the seals and like Hiruzen said there were weights and other things. What caught his eye were the variety of books.

One was on human anatomy, his guess was that it was for Hinata because she would be able to master the art fully due to her Byukagan. One was the intro to chakra manipulation, Naruto guessed was for him, a training schedule for Hinata and lastly, and in Naruto's opinion, the best gem of the pile.

A few scrolls on the legendary Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash of Kohona!

Naruto was absolutely ecstatic that he got to learn more about his idol. Most were about the major role he had played in the third shinobi war, but there was one that was about the several jutsus he had created and how he had used them. It was published by Iwa and Kumo to warn their ninja how to best avoid Minato's attacks, but, in the end, it didn't really matter.

Naruto was cackling with excitement. Screw sleeping! He was going to read these sweet pieces of literature!

**With Inoichi and the Hokage**

Inoichi stood in the Hokage's office ready to begin his report on Naruto's mental health and the status of the wall.

"You may begin your report Inoichi-san," Hiruzen said in a tired tone, it has been a long day.

"Hai. My session to destroy Naruto's mental wall went incredibly well, the wall was far more advanced than I had anticipated however it was broken down fairly easily," he began.

"Oh? Why was it so easily broken down if it was so advanced?" Hiruzen asked, despite being the Hokage and the God of Shinobi, he had some trouble fully understanding the matters of mental jutsu.

Inoichi seemed to think about it for several seconds. "There are a few reasons that I can think of; the first one is that the wall was a side effect of the seal that the Yondaime used, so while it would keep out Naruto and other untrained interrogators but it couldn't keep out a shinobi of a higher caliber. The second scenario is that the Yondaime put up the wall on purpose so Naruto couldn't have access to the Kyuubi until a certain age but I just sped up the process," Inoichi explained, then one more thought struck him. "Or, possibly that the Yondaime made the wall so that they Kyuubi couldn't influence Naruto...but due to the fact he was dying he could only make a wall that blocked on one side." Inoichi said, a sliver of fear making its way into his gut.

Had he just screwed up Minato's last act to protect his son? Had he just diminished the one wall that protected Naruto from the demon?

**With Naruto**

It was two o'clock in the morning when Naruto decided to put the book down. He was beginning to go cross-eyed from reading for so long. He yawned loudly as he placed his book on the floor beside his bed and turned off the light before going to sleep.

...

Naruto opened his eyes to the surroundings of a sewer, or that's what he thought it was.

Everything had a very milky red color and you could only tell where things were because of the faint black outline.

"Where am I?" Naruto asked himself. Did someone throw him in a sewer and he just didn't wake up? Naruto tossed the ridiculous idea away; not only was he a light sleeper but the sewer that he was in looked like a poorly drawn sketch.

"**Come-me-**" said a deep but shaky voice, sounding like a radio that was losing signal. Naruto looked around for where the voice was coming from but it seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. **"-To me human-**" Naruto let out a annoyed sigh. "Where are you?" he yelled, hoping the strange voice would tell him.

"**Foll—instincts**," the voice responded. Naruto cocked his head in confusion. 'Follow my instincts? Is that what he's trying to say?' he thought before he started walking. He had no destination planned; he simply followed where his feet thought he should go. He got lost incredibly easily because everything looked the same but many minutes later, or hours, he began to notice subtle differences in the sewer.

The walls had more color in them and the shadows began to look darker instead of their pale, grayish color. Things were more defined so he stopped bumping into things. Naruto examined the walls with curiosity. Why were they red? Why didn't this sewer stink?

All of his questions were answered minutes later when he walked into a large room that looked like it was half the size of Kohona! At the far end, there was a cage that seemed to take up the entire far wall.

He continued walking until he was at the center of the room where he felt like he should stop.

"**Ahh...so this is the runt that acts as my jailor. I must say...you're much smaller than I had expected**." The voice said behind the cage, two giant red eyes opening and focused on Naruto.

Naruto stumbled back a few steps. "Who are you?!" He yelled at the source of the voice, confused as to how something so big was locked in a sewer underneath Konoha.

"**Kukuku...you are very brave or very foolish for addressing in such a way. I am the Kyuubi No Yoko human and you will treat me with respect**," the Kyuubi said, a threat implied in his tone.

The Kyuubi had been trying to get in contact with its third Jinchuuriki but with no success until now. For whatever reason the white wall that had prevented him from influencing his new jailor had been eroded enough that he could reach out while the child, or was he an adult? All humans looked alike to him.

Back to the point; the connection was shaky at first but now he was in the same room, it was much easier to communicate. Naruto fell back on his backside as he looked up at the Kyuubi with a fearful expression. This was the monster that had killed the Yondaime!

The Kyuubi smiled savagely at Naruto, enjoying the fear in blonde's eyes. "W-What are you doing here?! Why aren't you dead!" Naruto demanded. He had been told his entire life that his hero had killed the Kyuubi with his final breath! What was it doing down here in some sewer?

"**HA! As if one of you hairless apes could ever have hope of killing me! Your leader made a deal with the shinigami and I was sealed inside of you...**" the kyuubi added reluctantly. In a way he respected the blonde human for managing to do something so brave as to sell his soul to the king of the dead, but on the other paw he hated him for taking his freedom away again.

Naruto was silent for almost ten minutes, trying to comprehend what the Kyuubi had said. "WHAT?!" he yelled in total disbelief. Did it just say that it was sealed inside of him? Naruto knew it was possible because he had read about Jinchuuriki in the library, but he certainly never thought he was one!

Sure he could see similarities between the way Jinchuuriki and he were treated but who assumes that the have a demon inside of them?

"**I do not enjoy repeating myself human, you heard me correctly the first time**."

Naruto laid on his back with his hands covering his face, muttering denials, but the evidence was there right in front of him telling him it was so. Not only that but he could remember more than a few times people had called him, "Kyuubi brat." He had chalked this up to him being born on October 10th or that the kyuubi was used as a way to damn something...or him in most cases.

"You're sealed inside of me," he muttered into his hands, slowly coming out of his shock.

The kyuubi watched Naruto in idle amusement. He couldn't wait to see the brat's reaction when he fully realized that he was a Jinchuuriki. It would be the most amusement he's had in years!

"That really fucking sucks," Naruto said as he sat back up. Naruto didn't curse often but he knew how to, seeing as people often cursed at him. He only did it when the occasion called for it and this was defiantly one of those occasions.

The kyuubi looked at Naruto with an expression that closely resembled one of a child that was just denied a toy that it had wanted.

The kyuubi was a little pissed that Naruto had denied him entertainment, but in a way he acknowledged that he was dealing with the news fairly well. He remembered when his second jailor had found out he would be sealed in her. She had cried for hours like a little girl, much to his amusement.

Mito's seal had allowed him just enough freedom for him to be able to feel the world through her senses. It had been a pain to be discreet enough that she didn't notice but when he saw the wimp of a jailor, he couldn't help but to be amused.

Naruto looked at the Kyuubi with a sullen expression, thinking how different his life could be, but he realized that he may have not been friends with Hinata-chan if it was. So, he was cool if there was a giant freaking demon inside of him as long as Hinata was his friend.

The kyuubi swished his tails in surprise. There was resolve in the boy's eyes that he hadn't seen since the other blonde that had sealed him. '_**This human could prove to be amusing**_,' thought the kyuubi.

"**Do you not hate me**?" he asked out of curiosity. He didn't care if Naruto did, but he was wondering why Naruto wasn't screaming "I hate you's."

Naruto sighed. "Sorta...but I really can't do anything about it," he said, sounding much more mature than a normal six year old.

He stood up. "Friends?" he asked, an offering of peace between the two but the Kyuubi growled in response.

"**I do not befriend humans**," the fox responded curtly. In his opinion, humans were the most vilest of races that did not know the meaning of loyalty.

"And I don't befriend giant foxes that killed my hero...but you're inside of me so I guess we should try to get along," Naruto said, using logic that only children were capable of.

The kyuubi blinked in surprise. His past two jailers had never really tried to get along with him. Mito had tried to suppress his hatred and Kushina had simply ignored his presence inside of her. However, the kyuubi's trust was not easily given.

"**I do not befriend humans, runt...but I will give you chances to win my friendship over the years. If you prove to me that you are different than the rest of your race then I will call you a friend**." The Kyuubi narrowed its eyes on Naruto. "**This does not mean that I won't take the chance to break out of you if one should ever present itself**," he warned.

Naruto seemed to debate it for several seconds before saying, "Fair enough, kyuubi."

The kyuubi swished his tail in thought. "**I have a name**," he said in some annoyance. You would think after a thousand years people would be able to think up something a little better than 'nine-tailed fox.'

"What is it?" Naruto asked, oblivious to the Kyuubi's inner debate if he should tell Naruto his name.

"**It's...Kurama**," Kurama said in a threatening tone, daring Naruto to laugh.

Naruto cocked his head to the side. "You have a weird name but you got yourself a deal, Kurama."

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Leave a review!**


	4. Chapter 4

"Naruto... It's not healthy for you to keep what happened to you bottled up. If you truly want to become a successful shinobi, you're going to have to learn to open up a little," Inoichi said in an exasperated tone.

It was Naruto's third and final appointment to remove the last traces of the wall. At first, Inoichi had been worried that he had unintentionally let the kyuubi have influence over the poor boy, but his worries were unfounded. Naruto had reported no strange occurrences since the wall had begun to erode so the Hokage had approved Inoichi continuing to remove it.

Inoichi knew this would be his last chance to get Naruto in this room willingly. Sure, the Hokage could order Naruto to go to appointments, but that didn't mean that Naruto would actually go. Even if they could get him in the same room, there was huge likelihood that Naruto would clam up. That meant that this was his last chance to get Naruto to open up while the boy was willing to be in the same room... Heck at this point Inoichi'd settle for Naruto telling him his favorite food!

"This again? I told you before where you can shove your concerns about my mental health. Plus, ninjas are supposed to be mistrusting ya' idjit!" Naruto shot back. He was really getting tired of this guy's probing.

Yes, something terrible happened to him... Actually, terrible couldn't begin to describe what had happened, but he didn't know the adjectives to describe what had happened.

Naruto couldn't understand why he wouldn't just let sleeping dogs lie. It was the past and he wanted it to stay there.

A tic mark formed on Inoichi's forehead at Naruto's comeback. However, he knew Naruto had no one to teach him manners or how to be a gentleman, like himself. Inoichi was known for his noble attitude and few things annoyed him more than a man who didn't act with chivalry.

He took a deep breath, "Yes, ninja are meant to be mistrusting and sneaky, but the life of a ninja is a harsh one. They need to open up to someone or else they could go crazy with guilt or sadness over his or her actions to protect their village.

"That is what psychiatrists and my clan are for: we help ninjas deal with those messy feelings so it won't affect their duties," Inoichi said in a no-nonsense tone. Inoichi had to convince Naruto that if he kept everything bottled up, sooner rather than later his feelings would bubble back up with a vengeance.

Naruto scowled as he got up. "I told you I'm fine," he snapped. His eyes hardening and his body unknowingly took up a fighting stance as if ready to attack Inoichi.

Inoichi's eyes widened in shock as he remembered Minato saying the exact words and took up the same stance many years ago.

***Flashback***

"Minato, you just slaughtered an entire army in a second! There's no way you're okay!" Inoichi shouted at his friend.

Minato had just used the **Hiraishin** jutsu for the first time last week and everyone now knew just how effective the jutsu was. He had slaughtered an entire army as a yellow phantom, killing Jounin, Chunin, and Genin alike and without a scrap of mercy.

Minato was being hailed as a hero, he was already a celebrity after so many battles during the war, but he was even more so one after using that jutsu. People would smile and wave at him, offer him discounts, and, occasionally, fathers would beg him to take their daughters' hand in marriage. Those had stopped when they had felt the wrath of the Red Death.

However, none of them could see what Inoichi saw. He saw through the bashful yet confident facade that Minato used for the public. He saw the self-loathing and the anger instead of the goofy smile and carefree attitude.

Minato had created an amazing jutsu: one that took nowhere near the usual amounts of chakra that every other S-ranked jutsu took and the only real side effect was some dizziness. That's how everyone saw the jutsu, but Inoichi knew that using the jutsu like Minato did had harmful mental side effects.

While the jutsu wasn't harming Minato physically, it was doing a number on his mental health.

Minato was a kind and protective soul. Truth be told Inoichi didn't think he was truly cut out for the shinobi life. Minato wore his heart on his sleeve for everyone to see, which was one of the things that made him so great, but it was also the reason that Inoichi thought he should never use** Hiraishin** in battle again.

Minato couldn't handle the fact that he was becoming a butcher. He killed over a hundred shinobi ninja the first time he used it and the demand would only get higher. By the end of this war, Minato could end up killing thousands.

"I told you I'm fine Inoichi! It's no big deal!" Minato lied smoothly, he hated to lie to his friend, but he didn't want anyone to know how guilty he felt. Not even Kushina could know, although Minato was sure she already had an idea.

He had sleepless nights; haunted by the images of him ruthlessly cutting down shinobi like they were grass. He had killed so many. He had even killed genin!

Inoichi shook his head. "No, you're not fine Minato. If you were, you'd be either a psychopath or completely apathetic to everything and we both know that you are neither of those things. You need help Minato, if not from me then open up about it to Kushina!" Inoichi pleaded to his friend. He was terrified that a jutsu like this would turn someone like Minato into a heartless butcher.

Minato shook his head. "I told you I'm fine, Inoichi. There's no need to keep asking me to open up about something that isn't a problem," Minato said in forced carelessness.

Inoichi shook his head again, "Minato you need-"

"Drop it Inoichi." Minato snapped. His anger that Inoichi wouldn't let the issue drop finally leaking through. He had unknowingly turned his body to the side and was the stance he used when he was about to attack someone.

Inoichi's eyes widened at being snapped at by Minato of all people. He could count on one hand how many times he'd seen Minato look this angry and still have a few fingers left over!

After a few tense seconds, Minato laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that! I'm a little cranky since I didn't get too much sleep last night!" he apologized as he mentally berated himself for getting angry.

Inoichi nodded dumbly and Minato took the opportunity leave. "Well, I have to go meet Obito and Rin for training, so see ya Inoichi!" he said as he vanished in a yellow flash.

***End Flashback***

Inoichi blinked a few times, clearing away the memories of his deceased friend. "Nar-" he started to say, getting ready to tell Naruto it wasn't healthy to keep everything in yet again, but Naruto had decided to leave while Inoichi was distracted.

"That little...!" Inoichi growled underneath his breath as he sprinted towards the door. Inoichi ran into the flower shop just in time to see Naruto walking out the door. "Naruto!" he yelled out and saw the boy's shoulders drop as he sighed in annoyance.

"I'm not telling you what happened. Get over it!" Naruto said, not even bothering to turn around.

Inoichi floundered a little before saying, "Okay, you don't have to open up about what happened in the room, but at least open up about something! It doesn't matter how small!" Inoichi pleaded, trying to correct mistakes he had made with Minato.

Naruto sighed like a weary adult and Inoichi wondered how he managed to do that.

***Flashback* Warning: graphic content**

"Please, don't make me go in there!" Naruto screamed in absolute terror.

"Get in the cage you monster!" one of the chunin yelled before delivering a savage kick to Naruto's ribs, causing him to lose his grip on the edge of the entrance.

"Please! Don't hurt me anymore!" Naruto pleaded with tears in his eyes, he just wanted them to stop!

"Shut it you monster! Now, let's see how many screams I can get out of ya' when I'm pumping enough electricity in you to make lighting jealous!" he said as lighting began to crackle out of his fingers

***End Flashback***

Naruto looked out the entrance with a thousand yard stare as memories bubbled to the surface.

"I hate cages," he said in a flat tone before he left a worried looking Inoichi.

...

Naruto walked through the busy streets, ignoring the hateful glares that were being thrown his way. It was a few minutes past three and Naruto was on his way to the academy to see Hinata. He had been kicked out by one of the teachers for not paying attention. The teachers' reasons were kinda valid this time because Naruto had been loudly snoring at his desk.

He arrived at the academy as everyone was being taken home by either their parents or caretakers. Naruto felt a pang of sadness that he didn't have anyone to go home to or with, but all that cleared away as he saw Ko-teme leading Hinata-chan home. Ko was keeping a watchful eye on Hinata due to her series of escapes from him every day.

He was beginning to become paranoid around her. It seemed like the moment he took his eyes off of her, she would disappear to go train with the Naruto! He didn't hate or even dislike Naruto, but he didn't think Naruto was worthy to associate with the Hyuuga heiress. He would never understand why young Hinata enjoyed being around him as much as she did.

_'He makes me really happy!' _Those were the words Hinata had used when he had caught her playing with a four-year-old Naruto. He had scolded her and told her never to associate with him again, but she hadn't listened. That was before anyone considered her a failure.

As it became more apparent that she lacked talent for her clan's style, she began to seek out Naruto's presence more often. He had caught her a number of times sneaking and following Naruto around. At first, he had been appalled at the stalker-ish behavior, but he quickly understood why she did it.

Hinata didn't feel safe at home because of the harsh training, but she did around Naruto. Ergo, she followed him around.

Ko sighed loudly and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. "Hinata-sama, you really need to stop running off..." Ko trailed off as he opened his eyes again and realized he was alone.

"Dammit."

...

Naruto lead Hinata through a series of alleyways with a big grin plastered on his face. "That was soooo easy!" he said to his friend. Hinata smiled and nodded in agreement. Usually, she would have to borrow Naruto's pranking supplies to create a distraction, but this time they seized the moment, running off together, while Ko-teme was distracted.

Naruto peeked out the end of the ally and, when he saw no sign of Ko, he walked out into the markets with Hinata next to him. "So whaddya want to do today Hinata-chan?" he asked as he threw his hands behind his head. Hinata colored slightly when he aimed his smile at her. She didn't know why she did, but she always would when Naruto smiled. "Ummm...could we w-work on chakra e-exercises?" she asked, her stutter had dramatically decreased but she still did it when she was embarrassed.

Naruto nodded. "Sounds like a plan! Hmmm, how about we go to that training ground we saw with those ANBU guys? We haven't been there yet."

Hinata paused for a moment. She didn't think it was a very smart idea to train on an ANBU training ground, but she didn't want to chance disappointing Naruto. "Yeah. That sounds good," she lied as she took the lead.

As they walked through the crowded market, Naruto started to fall back a little. He was receiving his usual glares and even though he didn't care what the village thought of him, he didn't want Hinata's reputation to be damaged because of him. Not only was the Teme was trying to treat her badly, but Naruto gave him a good smack each time he did. Naturally, all of his fan-girls followed suit in treating Hinata badly. Teachers were starting to ignore her and kids had stopped playing with her whenever Naruto wasn't there.

Naruto felt absolutely awful that Hinata was being treated badly because of him so he hung back a few steps. That way, there was a chance that people wouldn't realize that they were together and her reputation wouldn't be any more damaged.

He was broken out of his thoughts when he felt a hand take hold of his and Naruto's eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected contact.

Hinata smiled at him. "I-if you fall anymore behind, you c-could get lost," she explained, slightly surprised at her own boldness.

Naruto smiled back. "Thanks!" he said as he allowed Hinata to lead him to the training field.

...

Naruto hung off the bottom of a branch, using only his chakra to stick. "I finally reached the top!" he exclaimed to Hinata, who was struggling not to be submerged into the water she was standing in.

However, when she went to look up to congratulate her friend, her concentration broke and she was dunked into the water. Naruto hopped down to make sure she was okay, but she was already out of the water by the time he got there.

"You okay, Hinata-chan?!" Naruto said as he helped brush the excess water off of her. Hinata nodded. "I-I'm fine Naruto-kun. N-No need to worry!" she said, giving Naruto a reassuring smile.

She didn't fully understand why Naruto was sometimes like a mother hen towards her. Sometimes it bothered her, like he was implying that she wasn't strong enough to protect herself. She knew she wasn't, but that wasn't the point. However, she knew that Naruto didn't have a family or anything except for the Hokage and Iruka-sensei, both of which he hardly saw. So she kinda understood why Naruto would act overprotective of her, like how he broke Sasuke's arm when he called her a pale-eyed freak. He was protecting the only person he considered family.

Naruto let out a relieved sigh. "That's good. Sorry for breaking your concentration," Naruto apologized, knowing that he had been the reason for her fall in the lake.

As Hinata finished wringing herself dry, Naruto stood look out for Ko-teme. It had been a few hours since they started training and they had decided to risk staying in one spot. There weren't many places that had a pond that they hadn't been to already.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu**!"**

**"**Water Release: Exploding Water Shock Wave!"

Two ninja yelled as they entered the clearing, both dressed in ANBU armor and fighting against each other.

Naruto grabbed Hinata and used his body as a shield when he saw the pond rise up and crash over them, overpowering the fire jutsu. Naruto felt the water slam down on his back, cracking a few ribs in the process, as he held on to Hinata to prevent her from being swept away.

The powerful current swept them both away towards the two ANBU ninjas, both of whom had no idea about the children's presence. The two ANBU used two more water jutsu, Naruto didn't catch their names because he was still submerged, and the disturbance forced the still submerged children to change course.

Naruto didn't know where they were going, but he knew that he and Hinata needed air. His lungs were burning, screaming for oxygen and he could only imagine that Hinata was worse off. She hadn't seen the huge wave coming since her back was turned, so she didn't have time to take a deep breath like Naruto had.

Naruto opened his eyes underwater, ignoring the salt water stinging at his eyes, and tried to get a sense of direction. It was lucky that he choose to open his eyes at that moment because he saw the tree that was rapidly approaching.

Focusing chakra to his feet, he quickly flipped underwater and hit the tree with his feet. Naruto would have been fine, but the current had him moving rather fast and when you combined that with the fact he had almost a ton of water adding pressure, it was understandable when Naruto's legs fractured in several places.

Naruto forced back a grunt of pain as he landed that would only waste air and time. He held himself in place until the torrent of water subsided and collapsing to the ground when it finally did. He hissed in pain as he landed on his back, Hinata falling on top of him not helping in the slightest, and he was sure a rib or two had given out.

Hinata began to violently cough as she crawled off Naruto, who was gasping for air and hissing in pain every time he did so. "A-a-are you (cough cough) alright N-Naruto-kun?" she asked, noticing how he was holding his ribs and his right shin.

Naruto nodded weakly. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Are you okay Hinata-chan?" he asked as he forced himself up. He was vaguely aware of the two ANBU ninjas still fighting somewhere off to the side, but his focus was on Hinata. She nodded that she was fine. "We s-should tell those n-ninja that we're here. S-so we can l-leave before we get more hurt," she reasoned, but Naruto looked doubtful. He figured that it'd probably be safer to climb up the tree and wait them out. However, before he could voice his thought, Hinata got up and started to walk towards the fighting.

She didn't have to walk far because the two ninjas suddenly appeared, going at each other in a fierce taijutsu match. Hinata 'eeped' loudly as the two suddenly appeared, which was a very big mistake.

ANBU spars were in a totally different league than normal spars. Instead of simply aiming to injure, they aimed to kill or maim their sparring partner. That way they would get the most out of training. Going all out gave them the feel that you would get in a war zone. Since they were ANBU, Konoha's first line of defense and offense, the experience was invaluable.

However, due to the fact they were both completely immersed in the fight, they were both running on battle instincts. They were experienced and seasoned in ambushes, so when they heard a sound that wasn't natural in a forest and since they were supposed to be completely alone, they reacted accordingly.

Both shot kunai at the source of the eep, knowing that they had made a mistake the moment the weapons left their hands. It was too late for them to do anything about it; they could only watch in horror as their weapons rapidly approached a young girl.

Hinata watched in terror as the kunai made their way towards her; one at her heart and the other at her eye. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as she watched her impending doom race towards her.

It was totally different than the last time she had a brush with death. Last time, she had been too worried about Naruto to be frightened. Her concern for Naruto outweighed her concern for her own life.

This time she was absolutely terrified. She didn't want to die yet! She was years too young and there was so much she wanted to do! She wanted to be friends with Naruto longer. She wanted to remove the evil seal on the branch family. She wanted to continue to impress her father with her progress and show up those mean elders. She wanted to be a big sister to Hanabi. But she would get to do none of those things for her life was about to end.

As a last act of fear, Hinata shut her eyes. That way she wouldn't have to watch the moment that her life ended, but moments passed and her death didn't arrive.

Timidly, she opened her eyes out of confusion. Had the kunai missed? Did she already die and she was just a ghost now?

When she opened her eyes, she received her answer. The two kunai were hovering a mere inch away from her eye and heart, held by two sapphire arms of pure chakra.

Hinata stumbled back in surprise and fell on her butt; she looked back behind her for the source of the odd arms.

She saw Naruto with an outreached hand, a second arm of chakra reached out of it when his arms had been too short to do anything to stop the kunai.

Naruto watched in horror as the two ANBU threw kunai at Hinata on reflex. He had tried to get up and run over to intercept them, but he was not fast enough and his legs were fractured in several places, making it impossible to run.

He didn't know how he used these strange chakra arms. He had thrown out his hand in a pointless attempt to stop the kunai with anything that would save his friend. His prayers were answered when arms of chakra had burst from his palm and stopped the two kunai in the nick of time.

The arms began to dissipate, dropping the weapons to the ground, and Naruto slumped over in exhaustion. He didn't know what that jutsu was but it took a lot out of him!

"What are you two doing here?! You could have been killed!" said the female ANBU with a cat mask. She recognized Naruto because she would sometimes guard him when Kakashi or Itachi were unavailable and, of course, she recognized the Hyuuga heiress. Then it dawned on her that she had nearly killed the future clan head of one of the most respectable clans in Konoha.

She gulped, thinking about just how much hell she would get if it for Naruto's odd jutsu.

"S-sorry ANBU-san. W-w-we were training and we couldn't get away w-when the fighting started," Hinata said, her stutter slightly returning because of the fear from her brush with death.

"Hey kid, what was that jutsu you used?" asked the ANBU with a boar mask. He had never seen a jutsu like that before and wondered if it was a Kekkei Genkai that he's didn't know about.

Naruto looked down at his hand in puzzlement. "I don't know..." he replied honestly.

The cat ANBU looked at the two children. "Are you two okay?" she asked. Hinata seemed okay enough, but Naruto was clutching his ribs. Naruto nodded. "I'll be fine," he said, remarkably calm for a six year old with broken ribs. Then again, he did have a remarkably high pain tolerance.

She nodded. "We're taking you to the Hokage," she said in a professional tone before placing her hands on Hinata's shoulders as boar did the same with Naruto as they both Shunshinned**.**

...

Itachi walked through his clan's gates as he stifled a yawn. He and Kakashi had been on a mission to Kiri and they were just now returning after being gone for a little over a week.

He received nods from the two guards at the gates and returned them. That was one of the many little things that set Itachi above the rest of his clan.

He knew that they were not kami's gift to the world. He did not think himself above everyone simply because he was considered a prodigy. If anything, he would get annoyed when people would rant about his prowess in battle.

Sure, he was talented in the shinobi arts but he also worked hard to develop the skills that he had, not that his clan would accept that.

They used him as proof that the Uchihas were better than everyone else and that pissed him off to no end. He tried to reason with his kin, telling them that he wasn't great because of his special eyes. Kakashi had become a genin at five, chunin at eight, jounin at twelve, and ANBU at thirteen, he tried to tell them. He tried to argue that Kakashi had beaten him when it came to being gifted; he tried to prove that you weren't great because of your blood but his pleading fell on deaf ears.

Itachi sighed as he walked towards his home, eager to catch a nap and some of his mother's cooking, but when he neared his home, he saw Sasuke practicing the Interceptor Fist with a broken arm. He already knew that Naruto had broken his foolish little brother's arm, but he didn't hold it against Naruto. He knew that Sasuke had made fun of Hinata and Naruto was very protective of the young Hyuuga.

Then again, Kakashi had been bragging that his little brother had beaten Itachi's little brother up the entire trip. So maybe he did hold it against Naruto, just a little bit.

"Hello Sasuke," Itachi said, startling his little brother. Sasuke whipped around in surprise. "Itachi!" he exclaimed happily before wrapping his arm around his big brother's leg.

Itachi grinned down at Sasuke. In moments like these, Itachi could easily picture the type of boy Sasuke could be without clan arrogance.

His father seemed to double the arrogance in Sasuke because Itachi would have none of it. Sasuke had double the arrogance of the standard Uchiha and sometimes seemed to act like a psychopath. He wasn't a psychopath. He was simply following his father's instructions on how Sasuke needed to remind everyone of their place: beneath the Uchiha.

He had tried countless times to convince his little brother that his father's teachings were wrong, but Sasuke refused to listen. That didn't mean that Itachi would give up on the noble goal.

"How is your arm feeling?" he asked, stifling a smile at Sasuke's outraged face. "It's fine now. I'm gonna teach that freak a lesson when I'm all better!" Sasuke said valiantly, like he was doing a great and noble deed.

Itachi frowned slightly. "Oh? What's stopping him from breaking your arm again?" he asked, thinking that this was the best opportunity to break Sasuke away from the arrogance. Sasuke had managed to be the rookie of the year for the majority of the first year in the academy.

Each year there was a dead last and a rookie of the year; Sasuke maintained the head of the class. The dead last for most of the year was Naruto. Admittedly, Naruto was doing better in all of the physical aspects of being a Shinobi, but he was making strait zeros in everything academic until recently. He was making far better grades now, but even if he made hundreds in everything, he still wouldn't be able to pull his grade up enough to tie with next to last.

Itachi hoped that since Sasuke had been beaten twice by the dead last, maybe he could finally convince his brother of the truth.

Sasuke flushed. "H-he cheated!" Sasuke lied. Itachi gave him a knowing smile.

"Is that so? That's not what I heard," Itachi said, letting Sasuke know he knew the younger Uchiha was lying.

"I heard that you were bullying young Hinata and when Naruto told you to stop you shoved him. When Naruto didn't shove back, you shoved him again and kicked dirt in his eyes before trying to do the same to Hinata while calling her hurtful names. That's when Naruto grabbed your arm and told you to apologize. You refused, but Naruto gave you another chance. You refused again and that was when Naruto broke your arm.

"To me it sounds like Naruto didn't cheat at all. If anything, you cheated when you kicked dirt in his eyes," Itachi finished in a disappointed tone, saddened that his little brother could be so cruel.

Sasuke stammered for an excuse, but when he found none he simply proclaimed, "That doesn't matter! The next time will be different!"

Itachi shook his head. "No it won't. The next time you try to fight Naruto, the same thing, if not worse, will happen. Do you know why?" Itachi asked in a serious tone.

Sasuke looked slightly frightened of his brother's tone. He had never heard Itachi speak to him like this and he couldn't say that he enjoyed it. "No?" he answered.

"You will lose every time you go against Naruto simply because he trains harder than you," Itachi explained in a matter of fact tone.

Sasuke shook his head in denial. "But I'm an Uchiha! He's an orphan! It doesn't matter how hard he trains, I'll always be stronger!" Sasuke argued, snapping out of his fear of Itachi's tone.

Itachi shook his head, "Did being an Uchiha stop Naruto from breaking your arm with ease? You will lose to Naruto every time you fight him because, unlike father has said, being an Uchiha does not make you strong. Sure, you may be more talented than Naruto when it comes to some things but talent can only get you so far.

"I can say with complete and utter certainty that Naruto trains harder than half of the ninja in this village, some of them jounin as well. That's why it doesn't matter whose blood you have in you; hard work always pays off better than talent," Itachi finished, feeling slightly winded from the uncharacteristically long speech.

Sasuke seemed to mull over what his big brother had said; he looked up to his brother more than anyone else. The reason he had always thrown away his brothers ideals was because Sasuke had never seen evidence to support those claims. Sure, Itachi said that he was so strong because he was a prodigy, but how was that proof that dad's ideals were wrong? Itachi was an Uchiha and he was strong. When Itachi would tell him about a man named Kakashi who was stronger, he didn't believe it.

He had heard that Kakashi had a **Sharingan** eye so that had to mean that having the Uchiha's special eyes made you strong.

The only reason he was even considering it now was because he could still feel the pain of his broken arm. He couldn't understand how an orphan had managed to beat him, an Uchiha, but now Itachi was giving him the answer.

Itachi suppressed another smile as he saw Sasuke thinking about what he had said, happy with the fact that he wasn't blowing him off like he had done before. He didn't know if Sasuke would listen to what he had said but at least he was thinking about it.

"Come on; let's go see if mother has anything to eat," he said as he turned towards the house, Sasuke right behind him.

**With Naruto**

Naruto, Hinata, and the two ANBU arrived in front of the Hokage's office, startling his assistant.

"Uh, h-hello ANBU-sans. The Hokage is free at the moment if you wish to speak to him," she informed. Cat nodded, showing she had heard before she went to go knock on the door, but Naruto threw open the doors before she had the chance.

"Yo! Jiji! Some cool ANBU brought us here to see you," Naruto informed, causing boar to wonder at the size of the balls this kid had. Not many had the guts to call the God of Shinobi an old man, himself included.

Hiruzen looked up from a mission report he had been reading and saw a devilish looking Naruto barging into his office. "Ah, Naruto! Why exactly have my ANBU brought you here? You didn't get into trouble again, did you?" he asked. When Naruto got in trouble, it meant paper work for him.

Naruto gave his surrogate grandfather a lopsided grin before the cat ANBU answered, "We found these two on training ground twelve, Hokage-sama. Boar and I were engaged in a sparring match and these two were nearly killed as a result."

Hiruzen took a deep breath and pinned a look on a bashful looking Naruto. "Naruto...what were you doing on an ANBU training ground?" he asked.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Me and Hinata-chan were training Jiji! You may be going se-sen-ile if you couldn't figure that out," Naruto said. He wasn't sure what senile meant, but he was sure it applied to old people.

Naruto was acting like his old self for one reason: Hinata was in the room. He never got panic attacks or had anxiety issues when she was nearby. It was pretty bad when she wasn't though.

_'What a cocky kid.'_

_'Naruto-kun...you should show more respect to the Hokage...'_

_'Kami...how does this brat put pants on?'_

Hiruzen sighed loudly. "How exactly did you find the training field? They are very well hidden," he asked, wondering if he should relocate some of the training fields if a child could find them. Then he remembered that Naruto wasn't like most children and that he needed to have a talk with the boy.

"I dunno. Me and Hinata were running away from Ko-teme when we found a lake with a few ANBU by it. I decided since we haven't been there before, Ko-teme would have trouble finding us since it was an ANBU training field," Naruto explained.

Hiruzen nodded. He knew about the deal between Hinata and her father. He looked at cat. "You said that they almost died, explain how that happened."

Cat launched into detail on how she and boar had been in an intense sparring match and how Naruto and Hinata had been caught up in it. When she started to detail Naruto's strange new ability, Hiruzen's pipe nearly fell out of his mouth.

It seemed Naruto had inherited Kushina's ability, or at least a variation of it. This was surprising because he knew that Kushina's ability had been an oddity in her clan. No one had ever seen anything like it before and no one knew why she had the strange yet powerful ability. It had ultimately been the reason she was chosen to be the next jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi.

"Naruto, could you possibly show me that technique?" he asked, feeling eager to see if it was true.

Naruto nodded. He focused on his hand, trying to feel what had made him use the technique in the first place again. A few minutes went by with no result but then it happened.

Shakily, a blue hand, made completely out of chakra, emerged out of Naruto's hand. Unlike before, the hand was shaking, deformed and completely unstable. It was taking all of Naruto's concentration to keep the "hand" from collapsing.

Hinata looked in awe at the technique that had saved her life. Then she looked at Naruto, knowing that he had not only saved her life but her dreams as well. When he stopped those kunai, he was giving her a second chance to fulfill them and she planned to make the most of that chance.

Hiruzen puffed on his pipe in amazement. Naruto would truly become a powerful shinobi in the future, of that he had no doubts.

Naruto eased using the jutsu, a look of disappointment passing over his face. The first time he had used the technique, it hadn't been so shaky and was more solid. He couldn't think of a reason that it was so hard to do now.

However, all the adults in the room knew.

Naruto was one of the select few of people in the world who would improve during combat. They would constantly get stronger and stronger during a battle; they would adapt to their surroundings and use them against their enemies. They would think of complex strategies on instinct, not even aware of how complex they were.

Hiruzen had only met a handful of people that fell under that category: Nidaime, Minato, and now Naruto.

While he was incredibly happy that Naruto was in that category, he felt a pang of fear for the village. If Naruto ever chose to exact revenge on the village for his treatment when he got older, no one would be able to stop him. With his battle instincts, his talent, his chakra capacity...Naruto's potential was virtually limitless.

"My, my! Very impressive, Naruto-kun!" Hiruzen said honestly. While there was a chance Naruto could turn on the village, Hiruzen knew it would never come to pass. Naruto was forgiving by nature and kind hearted enough that he would hesitate to hurt a fly...well, unless Hinata was ever in danger.

Naruto beamed at the Hokage's words, "Thanks Jiji!" Completely forgetting his earlier disappointment.

The Hokage nodded. "While I'm not happy with the circumstances, I've needed to speak to you Naruto." He turned to the two ANBU. "Can you two ensure that Hinata makes it home safely?" he asked and received two nods.

"Hai Hokage-sama," they said in unison before leading Hinata out the door.

Before they left, Hinata broke away from the ANBU to give Naruto a hug. "Thank you for saving me Naruto-kun," she said as she crushed Naruto. Luckily for him his ribs had more or less healed during the conversation. Since the white wall had been eroded, not only did Naruto have access to the Kyuubi and its chakra, but it seemed that his healing ability had been increased as well.

"You don't have to thank me; I'll always protect you Hinata-chan," Naruto vowed with a smile.

Cat's inner female almost came out at the tender display, but years of ANBU training had managed to win out so she ended the moment. "Hinata-san, we should hurry. Your father will want to know if you're okay," she said authoritatively.

Hinata nodded before giving Naruto a small wave goodbye.

Naruto turned to the Hokage. "What do you want to talk about Jiji?" he asked in a less lively tone than he had been using just moments before. When Hinata left, a large portion of his cocky confidence left with her. He wasn't going to have a panic attack, he trusted the old Hokage more than enough to keep the attacks at bay, but he still had a sense of unease.

Hiruzen noticed this, but chose not to comment. "Well Naruto-kun, I would like to talk about the progress you've made in recent months," Hiruzen said. He knew Naruto wasn't going to like what he had to say, but it needed to be done.

Naruto's heart skipped a beat, Jiji sounded serious! Was he not doing good enough? Could that be it? If so, why was Jiji happy with his progress before? Was Jiji tricking him?

Hiruzen noticed the panicked looked on Naruto's face and quickly put his worries to rest. "I'm still delighted with your progress Naruto-kun! However, there is something that must be done that you're not going to like," the Hokage said sadly. Naruto really wasn't going to like this.

Naruto felt his anxiety creeping up. "What has to be done Jiji?" Naruto asked in a meek tone, his mind thinking of all the bad things Jiji could say next.

The Hokage sighed. "Naruto-kun...I'm afraid you have to retain the dead last position for the academy," he said, receiving the reaction he was expecting.

"Why!? Why do I have to be the dead last? I beat Sasuke up! I can be the rookie of the year next year!" Naruto complained. This wasn't what he was expecting and while he was kinda glad it wasn't one of the things he was imagining, he still was unhappy with it.

Hiruzen sighed. "I know it is incredibly unfair and I have no doubt that you could be the rookie of the year, but it is simply too dangerous for you to do so."

He wanted Naruto to be able to rub it in the faces of the brats that tormented him and while he desperately wanted Naruto to claim the rookie of the year spot, the threat of Danzo heavily outweighed bragging rights.

Danzo had been a thorn in Hiruzen's side for far too long. There had been a time when he had called the man his best friend and greatest rival but those days had ended long ago. He felt nothing but contempt for the man now. The only reason he hadn't had him assassinated was because of his ROOT program.

He allowed Danzo and his program because they were useful to the village. Sure, he had to occasionally turn a blind eye when they had technically committed treason a time or two, but that was because he knew that Danzo had Konoha's best interests in mind. He knew that Danzo would never betray Konoha and he was willing to do whatever it would take to defend it.

However, if Danzo knew just how powerful Naruto could become, he would stop at nothing in order to turn the boy into a weapon. If he knew about Naruto's talent, then he would no doubt try to kidnap Naruto and turn him into a tool regardless of Hiruzen's orders. That was something that could not be allowed to happen.

Hiruzen knew that he wouldn't be able to ignore that and he would have to execute his one-time friend. Not only would he lose a devout ninja but he would also lose the program that dealt with the messier jobs that Konoha didn't want associated with them. Then there was the chance that ROOT might rebel or align themselves with an enemy village...

It was simply far too dangerous for Naruto to gain that kind of attention.

"Whatcha mean it's too dangerous?" Naruto demanded.

"If you become rookie of the year then there is a slight chance that what happened with the Uchihas could happen again. I have increased your guard, so it is unlikely, but I would sleep better at night knowing there wasn't a chance at all Naruto-kun," Hiruzen responded.

"I'm getting stronger! I can protect myself!" Naruto argued stubbornly.

Hiruzen nodded. "Yes Naruto-kun, you are becoming strong but you're not strong enough to defend yourself as well as Hinata," Hiruzen said. He was playing on Naruto's fierce protective instincts to convince the boy. He knew Naruto couldn't care less about what happened to him, but Naruto would take on the shinigami himself to protect Hinata.

Naruto paled significantly at that. Could Hinata be hurt because he as rookie of the year? Was that possible? "Can't you get those ANBU guys to protect Hinata-chan?" he asked, trying to get the best of both worlds.

Hiruzen puffed on his pipe. "Yes I can, but there will be the off chance that someone could get through. Like what happened to you a little over a month ago. You had ANBU guarding you when those Uchiha took you," Hiruzen said, knowing he was dealing a low blow...but it was in the boy's best interest and safety for him to be the dead last.

Naruto felt like he was going to be sick at the thought of those horrible things happening to Hinata. He couldn't let that happen, no matter what.

Naruto nodded, showing that he understood. He didn't like it but he would do it to protect Hinata-chan.

"I am sorry Naruto-kun but this is the safest option for you and young Hinata," Hiruzen said sadly. He could almost feel the disappointment radiating off Naruto.

"S'okay Jiji. It's to protect Hinata-chan so it's worth it. See ya later!" Naruto said before leaving.

**The Next Day**

Hinata was walking to Naruto's home with a medical cream that she made. She remembered the loud snaps of Naruto's ribs when he had broken her fall. She knew that he didn't need it but she had to do something! He had saved her life!

She timidly walked through the red light district, where Naruto lived, and ignored the questioning looks from the few people on the streets. After all, it wasn't every day you see an actual princess walking through the seediest district in Konoha.

Hinata walked up the stairs of Naruto's apartment complex and knocked on the door, hoping that it was early enough that he hadn't left yet. After a few knocks she heard a loud, "I'm coming!" before the door swung open and revealed Naruto dressed in his training clothes.

"Hinata-chan? What are you doing here so early?" he asked as he invited her into his humble home.

"I made y-you an ointment f-for your ribs," she said as she hastily thrust out the small vial.

Naruto blinked in surprise, but took the vial. "Thanks Hinata-chan!" Naruto said happily, tucking the gift in his pocket.

"I know you don't need it b-because of the..." She paused and patted her belly. "But I wanted to thank you for saving me..." she said with a faint blush, remembering how Naruto had heroically broken her fall then saved her life.

Naruto smiled when Hinata mentioned his tenet. She had taken the news incredibly well.

***Flashback***

"Hey Hinata...I need to tell you something..." Naruto said uncertainly, really worried that the information he was about to share could end their friendship.

"What i-is it Naruto-kun?" she asked, panting slightly. They had just dodged Ko-teme yet again.

Naruto swallowed thickly. "I...I...you know the K-Kyuubi?" Naruto started, not really sure how to break the news that he had a flippin demon sealed in him.

Hinata looked puzzled. "Y-yeah? The Yondaime killed it when it a-attacked Konoha," she answered, wondering what the Kyuubi had to do with what Naruto had to tell her.

Naruto took a deep breath, "What if I told you...it wasn't dead?" Naruto asked hesitantly. He really didn't want to do this, but Hinata-chan deserved to know.

Hinata's eyes widened out of fear. Her father had told her stories about the giant fox and how it nearly destroyed the village. That thing was still alive? They were all in danger! "W-w-w-what do you m-mean N-Naruto-kun? The K-Kyuubi i-s still a-alive?" she asked fearfully, her stutter worsening because she was frightened.

Naruto nodded slowly. "The Yondaime couldn't kill him but...but he could seal it in something...or...someone," Naruto finished, waiting for his first and only friends reaction.

Hinata's eyes widened further as she caught on to what Naruto was saying. She may have been young, but she wasn't an idiot. "He sealed i-it inside y-you?" Hinata asked in an almost disbelieving tone, wanting to clarify that she had guessed right.

She let out a small distressed cry when Naruto pulled up his shirt and showed her the seal on his stomach. "I just found out last night...but I get it if you don't want be friends anymore..." Naruto said sadly, as he pulled down his shirt, refusing to make eye contact with Hinata

"H-how does he fit in your tummy?" Hinata asked.

Naruto's head snapped up. That was her only question? How a giant fox managed to fit inside of him? Then he realized what Hinata was doing.

She was letting him know that she didn't care about him being a jinchuuriki; that she still thought of him as a friend.

Naruto beamed at her. "No idea!"

***Flashback end***

"You don't have to thank me, I'll always protect you!" he vowed with a smile, causing the young Hyuuga to blush**.**

"And I'll do my best to protect you Naruto-kun," Hinata vowed as well.

Naruto grinned. "So, since you're already here, wanna train with me?" he asked and received an eager nod from Hinata. "Try to keep up!" he said as he ran out the door.

**Later that day**

Hinata struggled to walk down the stairs so she could go to lunch with Naruto. His morning workout left her feeling like Jell-O and she hadn't even completed a third of what Naruto did. She truly did not understand how he was enthusiastically waving his arm at her and not lying on the ground moaning in pain.

"Hurry up Hinata-chan, before someone takes our spot!" he said without a trace of weariness in his voice. Hinata nodded and forced herself to move a little faster.

It took a few minutes, but Hinata eventually made it down the steps and outside by the swing. Unfortunately, there was an unwelcome sight at the tree.

"What are you doing here, teme? Want me to break your other arm for ya?" Naruto snarled and took a threatening step forward. Naruto couldn't stand Sasuke. He was a ringleader that made all of his followers shun Hinata-chan after they started to be friends.

Sasuke scowled and was about to retort but he stopped himself, remembering why he was there. "I'm...sorry," Sasuke growled, using a word that was almost foreign to him. He wasn't happy that he was apologizing to two commoners, but he was trying to follow Itachi's teachings.

Naruto and Hinata both blinked in surprise. They defiantly weren't expecting that. Naruto recovered from his shock first. "Sorry for what teme?" he demanded, not believing Sasuke in the slightest.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I'm...sorry...for being mean," Sasuke almost spat out, like the words were causing him pain.

Hinata looked at Sasuke in surprise. "We accept your apology," she said, sending Naruto a look to keep him from arguing.

Naruto saw the look and turned back to Sasuke. "Fine. We forgive you," he lied. He could never forgive someone who could have ordered the things done to him.

Sasuke nodded and started to take his leave. "W-wait! Do you w-want to be friends?" Hinata asked, thinking that if Sasuke had apologized than they could be friends now.

It took everything Sasuke not to sneer at the offer at friendship. Why would he want to befriend the two outcasts of their class? "No, I don't want to be friends with you. I'll just try not to be so mean," Sasuke more or less snapped at Hinata, but quickly scampered off when Naruto took a few steps in his direction, fully intending to snap his other arm for addressing Hinata-chan in such a way.

"That was...odd," Naruto commented as they watched Sasuke retreat.

Hinata nodded in agreement; while she was a bit saddened that she didn't make a new friend, she was still happy that Sasuke wouldn't try to bully them anymore.

"Well...let's eat lunch!" Naruto said as he opened his lunch box.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Sorry if it's not as well written as my other chapters, I'm currently in the hospital getting a few surgeries done on my kidneys. Because of that, I wrote the majority of this while I was high on morphine (that stuff is fucking GREAT). Also, big thanks to my new beta SamusOlderBrother (who apologizes profusely for delaying the release of this chapter)!**

**Also, I know some of you are going to hate the chakra arms. I don't care, I like them and I can do more with them than chakra chains. I haven't read a story with them so I feel like I have a bit more freedom.**

**And yes; their the same arms from cannon. **

**Well, I'm off! Leave a review!**


	5. Chapter 5

"So now that I'm a ninja, I don't have to hide my skills?" asked the young blond boy. He had near shoulder length, shaggy, dirty blonde hair with two bangs framing his tan face with three faint whisker-like marks on each cheek.

He wore a tight fitted, sleeveless, soft leather turtleneck vest that was usually unzipped at the neck. He wore matching black pants that were tied off at the ankles with white bandages. He had two matching kunai holders that had room for scrolls on both legs along with black, fingerless gloves with a metal plate on top and matching elbow guards. Instead of the normal blue sandals, Naruto wore black ones.

It was all very fashionable, but no one knew that Naruto's wardrobe was not of his choosing. His best friend had picked out everything for him after the time that she saw him in a neon orange jumpsuit. When she saw that monstrosity, she no longer trusted Naruto to pick out his own clothes.

"Yes, Naruto-kun, you no longer have to hold back...though, I'm not sure that you really tried," Hiruzen Sarutobi said, giving the thirteen-year-old boy a mocking glare. While Naruto had agreed to stay in the dead last position, he occasionally flexed his muscles to make sure everyone stayed away from Hinata. Apparently, Naruto had taken his words to heart when he had said that people might come after Hinata because of Naruto.

At first, Hiruzen had been angry with Naruto. He had completely undermined Hiruzen's true intentions! However, Naruto never displayed his true strength; he never went all out. He simply let people know he was better than he let on.

It wasn't uncommon for academy students to hide their true skills; they would one day be shinobi and shinobi used every hidden ace they could find. Though, they typically came from clans but Hiruzen hoped they would think Naruto was doing the same.

Hiruzen knew that was pushing it to the point of breaking but as long as no one knew just _how _far Naruto was ahead, he should be safe from Danzo's clutches.

"Sweet!" Naruto said, giving the Hokage a lopsided grin. "And I did too try! It's not my fault that I'm just too amazingly powerful to keep all my skills hidden," he said flippantly.

While it was mostly a joke, there was still a measure of truth in there. He did occasionally slip up over the years and people now knew that he was keeping his strength hidden.

Hiruzen chuckled. "I'm sure that's the case. Now, when you do decide to show off, try not to overdo it. I really don't need more paper work," Hiruzen pleaded. He felt like he'd been at this blasted desk for so long that they might as well attach it to him.

"When have I ever over done anything?"

"Hell Week." Hiruzen deadpanned with no small amount of annoyance in his tone.

Hell Week was a weeklong holiday that Naruto invented to celebrate a momentous realization he made when he was eight.

He finally realized that since he didn't care what people thought of him, he never had to bother to censor himself! He could say every little thing that popped up in his head and do anything he wanted that wasn't illegal...though...he did most illegal things as well.

That was how Hell week was born. It was a week full of pranks on everyone and everything. No one was safe and nothing was sacred when it came to Naruto's pranks.

Last year alone, he vandalized the Hokage monument five times, arranged a group gathering of unattractive people to surround the Hyuuga compound when they trained their all seeing eyes, dropped off unsolvable puzzles at the Nara household causing Shikaku to have a small break-down when he couldn't solve one of the puzzles, released the several hives at the Aburame clan compound, gave the Akimichi food poisoning, and arranged a swarm of aphids to be released into the Yamanaka flower shop.

He pranked jounin as well; he stole a certain masked ninja's favorite book and held it for ransom. Instead of currency, he made Kakashi do embarrassing things in public, one of which was making him wear his eternal rival's green jumpsuit.

He arranged "accidents" and closed every dango shop in Konoha. You could hear Anko's cries across the village.

He pranked ANBU as well. He paint bombed their bases and training grounds, he even went as far as writing their names on their masks.

He had also unknowingly pranked a ROOT base as well. He had decided that their plain white masks were too boring and took the burden to decorate the masks. It had nearly given Danzo a heart attack when he had heard about that.

It had gotten so bad after the first Hell Week that Hiruzen used it as training for ANBU, to better their reaction times in case of terrorist attacks.

The victims, and there were many, called for Naruto's imprisonment. What he was doing must have been highly illegal, right? It was. However, they couldn't imprison Naruto simply because Naruto left no evidence.

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean, Jiji. I know nothing of this 'Hell Week'," Naruto said innocently, no small amount of pride in his voice. He absolutely loved Hell Week.

"Oh, I'm sure you're innocent of all charges," Hiruzen replied sarcastically, but in a loving tone. He knew that Naruto didn't just celebrate when he realized he could do what he wanted, it was also one of the ways he flexed his muscles. He knew it wasn't a coincidence that Naruto smote those in particular that had been mean to Hinata during that year.

"Sure am! Now I do believe that you owe me money, Jiji," Naruto held his hand out expectantly. He was waiting for the pay for his first A-ranked mission.

Mizuki had tried to convince Naruto to steal the forbidden scroll and learn a single jutsu from it. He had agreed when Mizuki said he could guarantee that Naruto would end up on the same team with Hinata. But instead of sneaking into steal it, Naruto walked into the Hokage's office, told Jiji what Mizuki was planning, and the Hokage allowed him to take the scroll.

Naruto had gone to the clearing and decided to take a peek at the forbidden scroll, completely unprepared for what he was going to see.

When he read the first jutsu, he didn't know what to make of it. Here was the jutsu that he had been using to help him train for years; he honestly thought he had made it up himself! He couldn't think for a possible explanation for the fact he knew a jutsu that already existed!

Naruto thought about his odd instincts and called them into question. Over the years, he knew it was incredibly strange that his body knew how to do things that he had never heard of!

How did he know how to throw a kunai when people tried to teach him wrong? How did he master taijutsu styles and kenjutsu styles with complete ease? How in the hell did he know a jutsu that already existed?

He couldn't think of an answer.

Naruto was strongly considering asking the Hokage what was going on but he wanted to dig around a little first. If he couldn't find anything then he would certainly ask Jiji.

Naruto had beaten up Mizuki with frightening ease and returned the scroll. Which is why he was about to get paid.

Hiruzen smiled as he tossed a scroll over to Naruto. "There's your pay for your first unofficial mission, although I'll put it in your file as an official A-ranked. Try to spend some of it on something other than food," the Hokage said, making a quip at Naruto's S-ranked status in the Akimichi book of eaters.

Naruto's workout regimen was awe-inspiring. Even Guy and his clone had blanched when it came to the pure insanity that Naruto did every day. Because of this, and the resistance seal that he had developed, the calorie intake he had to maintain was unbelievable.

Naruto, on average, ate around 12,000 calories a day to stay healthy.

It wasn't uncommon for him to eat out a shop when he visited a shop; in fact, it was so common that restaurant owners actually encouraged Naruto to eat in their restaurant.

In the end, he had been right; he now stood at an impressive 4'10. Not bad for a thirteen year old, considering he still had plenty of time to grow.

"Ha-ha Jiji, very funny," Naruto said as he tucked the scroll in his pocket. Hiruzen was about to reply but he was interrupted by a child's voice yelling. "On guard, Old Man! Prepare to hand over that-oof!" the kid yelled as he ran towards the Hokage with a shuriken.

Naruto reacted without thinking; he thought that his surrogate grandfather was danger, so he didn't even notice that the attacker was a child until it was too late.

He channeled a little bit of chakra from the bottom of his foot and extended it towards the boy's leg. A small phantom hand came up from the floorboards and grabbed the boy's ankle, causing him to fall flat on his face.

Naruto blinked in surprise as the Hokage lowered his hat in embarrassment. This was his grandson's third assassination attempt this week.

Konohamaru slowly got up as he rubbed his face in pain, feeling incredibly embarrassed that he had tripped over nothing. But he couldn't let people know that, so he naturally blamed someone. "You tripped me!" he accused Naruto, unknowingly right with his accusation.

While Naruto was sorry that he had tripped the boy, even though the boy tried to assassinate Jiji, Naruto was very stubborn. "Not the way I saw it, brat. You tripped over your own two feet," he lied smoothly.

"You did too!" Konohamaru yelled as he approached Naruto, as if Naruto should back away in fear of his presence. He was in for a rude awakening when Naruto grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "Unhand the honorable grandson!" a new voice yelled in horror. Naruto looked over and saw a man swabbed from head to toe in black with matching black glasses.

Naruto looked down at the cockily grinning boy in his hands. "What? Not gonna hit me since my grandpa is the Hokage?" he said arrogantly.

The Hokage lowered his hat so he couldn't be called upon to testify to what would happen next. _'You have made a very grave mistake, my grandson.'_

"I don't care if he's your grandmother!" Naruto yelled as he spiked the boy; it was okay because he was wearing a helmet.

Konohamaru bounced as Ebisu let out a distressed cry; he didn't think the demon brat would actually go as far to attack the honorable grandson in front of the Hokage!

"Now that's taken care of, I'm off to find Hinata-chan. See ya' Jiji!" Naruto said as he brushed past a glaring Ebisu. Naruto could practically feel the hate from behind his glasses.

Ebisu looked at the Hokage in confusion. Why wasn't he demanding for that demon's head on a silver plate for attacking his kin? Hiruzen sighed as Ebisu turned his gaze upon him. Like Naruto, he could feel the anger at the blonde coming off Ebisu in waves.

"Hokage-sama, that...boy...just assaulted the honorable grandson!"

"Oh? I didn't see anything," Hiruzen said in a painfully fake tone. Before Ebisu could respond, Konohamaru groaned as he returned to consciousness.

"I see you're awake, Kono-chan," Hiruzen said, using his nickname for his grandson.

Konohamaru answered with another groan in pain as he held his head. "Who was that guy?" Konohamaru asked, wanting to know the boy that was different from the rest of the village.

Hiruzen smiled at his grandson. "That was Naruto Uzumaki, one of the greatest heroes of this village," Hiruzen said, giving Ebisu a warning look.

That got Konohamaru's attention. "Really?! What did he do?!" he asked excitedly.

Hiruzen smiled at him again. "Naruto-kun protects the village from something that could wipe the village away in a second, every single day..., and he never gets thanked for it," Hiruzen answered.

Hiruzen wondered slightly if he was imparting too much information, but he quickly cast the thought aside. Konohamaru was young and he had been taught that the Kyuubi had died with the Yondaime; he'd never make the connection.

Konohamaru's eyes went wide with awe as Ebisu successfully resisted the urge to 'tsk'. Not only was he in the presence of his Hokage, and that would be totally disrespectful, but Konohamaru would ask why he didn't like the brat.

Ebisu fixed his glasses. "Come now, honorable grandson. We have training to do," Ebisu said before he noticed that the room was missing a third member.

**With Naruto**

Naruto walked down the street towards a bakery that Hinata visited regularly. She was usually there eating cinnamon buns or other sweet pastries. Turns out, the Hyuuga heiress had quite the sweet tooth.

Naruto yawned loudly as he threw his arms behind his head, using the opportunity to peek out the corner of his eye, and saw that he was still being followed by a box shaped rock. He didn't know who was following him, but they were doing a very bad job of it. It didn't take long for Naruto to get tired of his second shadow, so he took to the roofs to lose the rock.

Minutes later he approached the bakery and saw Hinata in her usual spot by the window. Smiling, he entered the shop like a regular customer. "Hello Naruto-san! Is there anything we can get for you today?" said an excited, jolly looking man behind the counter.

Naruto shook his head. "No, I'm just here for Hinata-chan," he said and was almost impressed at how fast the man's face went from being happy to being disgusted by his very presence, though the man did try to mask it.

"She's in her usual spot," he said in barely concealed contempt before he went to check on a cake.

Naruto smiled as he saw Hinata chowing down on a cinnamon bun, completely ignoring the shocked looks she was getting from some newer customers. They had no idea that Hinata never beat around the bush when it came to her favorite food.

As she was going to take another large bite, Naruto swiped it out of her hands and slid into the seat across from her with practiced ease.

She glared at him but there was a small smile tugging at the edge of her lips. "Hello Hinata-chan! How are you this fine evening?" he asked as he took a bite out of the stolen sweet. Hinata sighed before she grabbed another cinnamon bun from the almost empty case.

"I was doing just fine until you showed up," she said sweetly as she too took a bite from her treat.

Naruto gave his best friend a foxy grin. "Oh? Is that how it is? Fine then, I won't pay for your food then," he said in an offended tone.

Hinata's brow furrowed, dropping the long standing inside joke. "Naruto-kun...I asked you to stop stealing."

That was the secret to how Naruto paid for his incredible food bills. He would break into the homes of people that had too much money, and to be honest they didn't really deserve it, steal some valuable things, and sell the things on the black market in the red light district.

Naruto didn't really see what he was doing was wrong. He was taking from the people that had too much and tried to make his life hell, plus, it gave him good practice with his lock picking and stealth skills.

Naruto held his arms up in defense. "I didn't steal anything. I just got payment." Naruto gave his hands a distracting spin and a scroll suddenly appeared into his hand. He didn't use chakra or fuinjutsu, it was, in Hinata's opinion, magic and she never got tired of seeing it. "For the A-ranked mission," he finished, grinning like a fool at Hinata's sputtering but happy expression.

"The Hokage gave you an A-ranked mission? When? What was it-" Hinata started to ramble, but was stopped when Naruto raised a hand.

"No, the Hokage didn't technically give it to me, it was more of a coincidence. Yesterday, Mizuki tried to trick me into stealing the forbidden scroll and when I told Jiji, he asked me to play along to see if Mizuki was working with anyone. I beat him up quickly enough and got my payment this morning," Naruto summarized but then a puzzled look made its way on his face.

"Though, something did happen. You know my clone jutsu?" Naruto asked Hinata and received a nod. "Well, before Mizuki came I looked into the forbidden scroll...and the first jutsu in there was something called the Shadow clone jutsu. Which is a solid clone purely made out of chakra that can send its memories to the original."

Hinata's eyes widened. Naruto had just described the jutsu that he his instincts had told him to do years ago. "But that...How?" Hinata asked in shock.

Naruto leaned in, looking serious. "I have no idea. I reread the text over a dozen times; it's the same jutsu down to the last detail," Naruto said. "I don't know how, but my instincts told me to re-create a jutsu that already existed; a kinjutsu at that." Naruto whispered, conspiratorially as he fidgeted with the black headband on his forehead, mostly concealed by his wild hair.

"Have you asked the Hokage?" Hinata asked, thinking that would be the first person Naruto would go to when it was jutsu related. Naruto shook his head, truth be told he still had lingering fears that Jiji would stop loving him if he proved himself to be a freak. He desperately wanted to ask the old man, but he was only going to do so when there was no other option.

Naruto shook his head. "I want to dig around a little first before I bring this to Jiji." Hinata's eyes softened as she figured out Naruto's true reluctance, but said nothing. She simply offered a tender smile, letting him know that she would always be there for him like he had been there for her.

Naruto was about to say something, but he was cut off when a square shaped box shuffled a few feet away from their table. Naruto looked down at the box in disbelief. Who in their right mind would design camouflage that bad? It was the same box-shaped "rock" with the same texture as the gravel outside; did this stalker really think they were going to fool anyone inside a store?

Hinata gave Naruto a curious look. "Is he yours?" Hinata asked, sending her closest friend an amused look.

Naruto looked deep in thought. "I don't remember adopting any rocks lately," he said as he threw the remainders of his cinnamon bun at the "rock." "Why are you following me?" he asked before the "rock" exploded in a colorful explosion of smoke.

When the smoke cleared, Hinata and Naruto saw that it was Konohamaru. "I see you have seen through my clever disguise!" the smaller boy claimed loudly.

Hinata chuckled; the little boy was adorable.

"You're that brat in Jiji's office! Why are you following me?" Naruto demanded, though he was slightly impressed that he was able to move. He had slammed the kid harder than he'd meant to.

"I'm not a brat!" Konohamaru yelled in denial. "And I was following you because I want you to train me!" he said with a cocky smile.

"No."

Konohamaru face-faulted. "But-but why? Please teach me boss!" he pleaded to an apathetic Naruto.

Naruto rolled his eyes until they settled on Hinata, who was giving him a "you-know-what-you-should-do" look. He sighed. He could never say no to Hinata-chan.

"Why do you want me to be your sensei? Don't you already have one?" Naruto asked, thinking of the glaring man back in Jiji's office.

Konohamaru nodded unhappily. "Yeah, but he never teaches me anything good. And he's not a hero like you are!" he responded to a now confused looking Naruto. He didn't remember doing anything particularly heroic lately.

"Oh? I'm a hero?" Naruto asked, wondering where Konohamaru got the idea.

The boy nodded, "Yeah! Jiji told me how you protect the village every day from something that could wipe us away in an instant! He didn't say what though, can you tell me?" Konohamaru asked with stars in his eyes. He was currently imagining his new boss felling a giant army of ninja with ease.

Naruto resisted laughing at the boy's naivety, but he settled for thumping him on his helmet. "Sorry can't tell ya, but I guess I can carve out some time to train you." As Konohamaru began to jump up and down with joy, Naruto looked at Hinata. "You want to come along Hinata-chan?" he asked.

Hinata shook her head. "Sorry Naruto-kun but I have a sparring match with my little sister," she said sadly.

Hinata always won the matches due to the harsh training she and Naruto had done for years. However, she hated the sparring sessions because she could feel her family being torn apart with each one. Every time she would win, Hanabi would storm off in anger, mumbling "I hate you"s the entire way. Father would praise her, which only worsened her and her sister's relationship as he criticized Hanabi.

The elders would give her an angry look. They hated her due to not only her friendship with Naruto, but also because she had developed her own style of Gentle Fist. They thought she was debasing years of tradition.

Naruto gave her a knowing smile, causing heat to flood to her cheeks. "S'okay Hinata-chan. Tell Hanabi I said to make sure she keeps her elbows up," Naruto said as he stood up. He had been helping Hanabi with her forms on the rare occasion she caught him and Hinata training. Some would think it would be incredibly odd for a non-Hyuuga to help a Hyuuga with their stances, but Hanabi knew Naruto helped Hinata with her own style.

Naturally, she wanted him to do the same with her.

Konohamaru looked between the two. "Hey girly, are you boss's..." He held up a pinky. Hinata blushed hard, her vision darkening but she resisted the urge to faint. Despite being far more confident, she was always reduced to a stuttering fool whenever her romantic feelings for the blonde came up. Naruto had no idea how she felt about him and seemed completely oblivious to her attempts to start something between them.

For example, she would "accidentally" brush his hand, trying to get it through his thick skull that she wanted him to hold it; he would simply mumble a sorry.

She thought about simply telling him her feelings but as stated before, whenever her romantic feelings for Naruto were brought up, she would stutter so bad that even if she did manage to stay awake long enough to tell them, the stuttering was so bad that nobody could have made out what she had said.

Naruto's cheeks darkened as well when he heard Konohamaru's foolish words. He did have feelings for his long time best friend, but he never acted on them. Not only did he not want to make things awkward between him and his only real friend, but also he had heard something called the "friend-zone" and he was certain that's what happened to him.

Hinata often referred to him as her 'best friend' and every guy knew that once you were in the "friend -zone," it was next to impossible to get out.

However, Naruto accepted his fate. It didn't matter if Hinata never returned his feelings; he would stand by her side even as she would eventually have to marry someone else for her clan.

He would stand by her side as she said, "I do," and ripped out his heart as she did so.

"W-what do you have to go and say that for brat?" he said with red stained cheeks. "Come on. Let's get your training started," he said hastily as he grabbed Konohamaru by his scarf and waved a quick goodbye to Hinata, all but running out the store.

**With the Hokage**

Hiruzen sat at his desk, his office full of jounin. He puffed on his pipe before saying, "I trust you all know you're here to receive your genin teams?" rhetorically.

The jounin mumbled "hai"s. The majority of them weren't looking forward to taking on a genin team. When a jounin took on a genin team, it usually put their own careers on hold for a while because they had to train the brats that were assigned to them. However, there were two exceptions: Kakashi Hatake and Kurenai Yūhi.

Kakashi couldn't feel more excited if he tried. He was finally going to be able to interact with his little brother face to face instead of through scrolls. He was finally going to be able to protect him and train him like he should have been for the past thirteen years.

Kurenai was looking forward to training her surrogate little sister. Eventually, the stress of the constantly disappearing Hinata had been too much for Ko and he had a small break down. However, what was more important was that Kurenai had taken over the job and saw Hinata as her little sister.

She didn't have as much interaction with the girl as she wanted because, like under Ko's supervision, she would run off to train with Naruto, but when the two did interact, you would think that they were actual sisters.

"Let's get started, shall we?" Hiruzen said as he picked up the piece of paper that outlined the best-suited teams. While most teams were put together by grades, a few specialized teams were placed together based on abilities and teamwork. An example would be the Ino-Shika-Cho team.

"Team one..." Hiruzen started.

"Team seven: Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyuuga, and Sasuke Uchiha under Kakashi Hatake," Hiruzen said somewhat reluctantly, knowing that he was about to get an earful. He really hated this job.

"All due respect Hokage-sama, but is it really wise to place Sasuke Uchiha on the same team with Naruto Uzumaki? It is my understanding that the Uchiha does not work well with others, especially not with the Uzumaki, and has a hard time sympathizing with anyone. This would be a serious issue on any team, but with those two, it will only be exacerbated and all three will fail," Kakashi said with mild annoyance in his voice. Sasuke was a bully in his opinion and he would much prefer if anyone other than Sasuke were on his team.

Hiruzen sighed. "Kakashi, you are the last **Sharingan **user in this village. You must teach young Sasuke to use it when he awakens it," Hiruzen answered and received an annoyed looking one-eyed glare in response.

"Sasuke has no concept of teamwork. He has no concept of empathy. He should be on a team with a genjutsu specialist or a Yamanaka, regardless of his doujutsu. The boy needs mental help that I am ill equipped to provide. We all know I'm not a mental health specialist. I can certainly take time to train him in the use of the **Sharingan**, if he ever gets his. But that isn't a good enough reason to screw over two other shinobi candidates," Kakashi stated in a serious tone, shocking a number of the jounin present. It was widely known that teams passed or failed together.

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes at Kakashi. "We both know that Naruto is smart enough to see through your test. He'll convince Sasuke to work together with Hinata and himself. And need I remind you that when you take on a genin team that you are allowed no favoritism? You are there to train their strengths and get rid of their weaknesses and bad habits. In the event that they do pass, that is what you will be doing with Sasuke's arrogance," He warned.

Kakashi understood where the Hokage was coming from but he didn't believe it was even possible to rid an Uchiha of their arrogance once it had taken hold. He could only think of three Uchihas that he'd ever known that didn't have their clan's signature arrogance: Obito, Shushi and Itachi.

Kakashi fully believed that the sole reason that they had been the exceptions was purely because they had never given into the arrogance. Obito, kami bless his heart, was a fool before he died and never took anything seriously and from his few interactions with him; Shushi was the same. Itachi seemed to have astounding beliefs that his clan's teachings were wrong. Although, in a way, Itachi had had a right to be arrogant.

However, that was not the sole reason Kakashi didn't want Sasuke on his team.

It had been months after the Uchiha massacre that Sasuke finally came to realize what "lesson" his now deceased kin had taught Naruto when he beat him in a spar all those years ago. His reaction had been something no one had expected.

Sasuke didn't care.

Kakashi didn't know if the kid had finally become a psychopath or he was simply in denial that his clan could do something so awful but Sasuke didn't care in the slightest.

He apologized but by no means was it heart felt; he simply didn't care.

"It isn't favoritism. I've been following this year's class and I don't even need to test them to know that Naruto and Sasuke will self-destruct as a team, causing untold problems," Kakashi pitched as a last-ditch effort.

Hiruzen looked deep in thought; Kakashi did bring up a good point. Naruto and Sasuke could hardly stand to be in the same room with each other. His original thoughts on them being on the same team were that they would both be professionals. They wouldn't let their mutual hatred for each other get in the way of a mission. But Kakashi had reminded the aging Hokage that maybe he was putting a little too much faith in what still amounted to children.

Hiruzen sighed. "Yes, I see your point...Naruto and Sasuke may not be professional enough to put personal feelings aside for the mission," Hiruzen admitted, cursing his age.

Hiruzen had been noticing that he wasn't nearly as sharp as he had been even a mere year ago. He was forgetting little things and unable to see patterns or foresee conflicts like the one that just happened.

He could still remember things if they were important enough or if a life depended on it, he could foresee a conflict, but who could know how many moments of clarity he had left?

He was being betrayed by his mind and body...if he didn't find a successor soon then he could only fear the worst

He looked down at the papers again. "Team seven now consist of: Hinata Hyuuga, Naruto Uzumaki, and Kiba Inuzuka under Kakashi Hatake as a heavy assault/tracking team," Hiruzen stated before he looked at Kurenai, who looked like she was about to explode due to anger.

"It seems unfair that Kakashi Hatake gets to choose his squad while the rest of our preferences are ignored. I put in a formal request to make a tracking team with Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame," Kurenai spoke up, barley masking her anger with forced politeness.

"Jounin Hatake brought up a valid reason to change the teams. A conflict that I managed to miss because I'm more accustomed to dealing with professional ninjas than academy children," Hiruzen said with an authoritative, angry glare. "Further, formal requests are not a guarantee that you will get what you want and you know that. Team 8 will consist of: Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Shino Aburame under Kurenai Yūhi as a Genjutsu/tracking team," Hiruzen said sternly in a moment of clarity.

Kurenai knew that Sakura had a high aptitude for genjutsu and Sasuke should have natural talent in the field as well. Sasuke could also act as the heavy hitter of the team with the jutsu he ought to learn from Kakashi with the **Sharingan**. All three of them had potential as trackers and, if Sasuke got his hands on his family's summoning contract with cats, then he could be even better than an Inuzuka.

Kurenai nodded, showing that she understood and accepted the change. She would have much preferred getting the team she had requested but she knew that, unlike Kakashi, she didn't have a valid reason to push for another change.

Hiruzen mentally patted himself on the back, proud of himself for defusing the situation.

"Since team nine is still in rotation, team ten will consist of; Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka under Asuma Sarutobi as a capture and interrogation team," Hiruzen finished and received a nod from his son.

"You all are dismissed."

**With Naruto**

Naruto was stretched out on a log as he watched Konohamaru fail yet again at the sexy jutsu. Despite being such a perverted jutsu, it was actually ingenious. Most shinobi were men and men were all perverts, deep down, so it was a great distraction technique.

Plus, Naruto could only imagine the amount of chaos Konohamaru would bring with such a jutsu. Naruto smiled slightly at the thought.

"You got the curvy part right, but they're in the wrong places," Naruto commented again as looked at another failed attempt.

"Gah! It's too hard!" Konohamaru yelled in frustration. He had been at this jutsu for hours!

Naruto sighed. "Is that the attitude of the future Hokage?" Naruto asked rhetorically.

Konohamaru had told Naruto his reasons for attacking Jiji daily as well as his insecurities about how everyone saw him as the "honorable grandson" and not as his own person a few hours ago.

Konohamaru puffed his cheeks out in annoyance at Naruto's words before attempting the jutsu again; however, before he did a voice interrupted him. "Honorable grandson! I've been looking all over for you!" Ebisu said as he jumped down from a nearby tree.

Konohamaru looked shocked then determined. "Go away! Boss is teaching me now!" he yelled.

Ebisu tsked at the mention of the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. "Honorable grandson, this boy is nothing but a dead-last fool, were as I am an elite jounin! I can teach you the secrets and shortcuts to becoming H-"

He was cut off by Konohamaru yelling, "There aren't any short cuts! You gotta work hard to become Hokage...and don't call Boss a dead-last! He's way cooler than you!"

Before Ebisu had a chance to defend himself, Konohamaru called out the name of his new technique. "**Sexy jutsu**!" Smoke erupted around the boy, but when it cleared a beautiful and busty brunette stood in Konohamaru's place.

Ebisu took a few steps back but was otherwise unaffected by the jutsu. "Honorable grandson, you should not spend any time on such a silly technique!" he scolded as he fixed his glasses.

"Why isn't it working!?" Konohamaru yelled out as he reverted into his original form.

"Because he's a closet pervert. You need something with a little more kick to deal with his kind." Naruto answered as he got up from his log. "But don't worry, I have a technique that will work just fine on him."

"I sincerely doub-"

"**Genjutsu: Pervert's paradise**!" Naruto called out, using one of the two genjutsu he knew.

The effect was immediate. Ebisu trailed off as a huge perverted smile began to form as well as two twin streams of blood from his nose. Naruto walked over and lightly poked the man in the forehead, causing him to fall over while still sporting the full-blown perverted smile.

"What happened to him?" Konohamaru asked, giving his assigned tutor a small kick in the ribs to see if he was really out of it.

"I placed him in a genjutsu where all of his perverted fantasies will come true. It's very dangerous because once you're in it, you may never want to leave," Naruto answered ominously before he looked up at the sun and saw that it was approaching dinnertime. "I think that's enough training for one day. Let's get you home," Naruto said as he walked towards the Sarutobi clan compound. "Okay, Boss!" Konohamaru yelled as he quickly followed.

**With Hinata**

Hinata deflected a blow to her stomach and rapidly placed three pokes up her attackers arm, rendering the limb useless.

Hanabi jumped back, ignoring her now useless arm. She was about to launch into another set of attacks but she was stopped. "That's enough Hanabi," her father said.

Hanabi looked reluctant, but obeyed along with Hinata. "Yes father," they said in unison.

Hiashi looked at both of them. "As expected Hinata, you were excellent. You displayed accuracy and speed worthy of being the Hyuuga heiress." Hinata nodded in acknowledgment, not looking forward to what would be happening next in the slightest.

Hiashi looked at his youngest daughter, who was trying to ignore her tingling arm. "Hanabi...your form has a number of holes in it and your speed was lacking as was your accuracy. These may be excused because of your age, but you will not always be young. Train harder. You may not be the heiress, but I will not have a weak main branch member, especially not my own daughter," he said harshly, giving his daughter a disappointed look; a look that Hinata had been very familiar with during the first seven years of her life.

Hanabi visibly winced at every word and answered with a very sullen. "Yes, father." If it weren't for her pride, she would have broken down in tears. She always felt like she was in her sister's shadow and, no matter what she did, she wasn't good enough.

"Good. You two have the rest of the day off." He looked at Hanabi, "If I were you, I would use that time to work on the holes in your stances." With that, he walked out of the dojo.

Hinata looked at her trembling sister with a soft expression. "Hanabi..." she said as she reached out to comfort her kin but her hand was smacked away.

"Leave me alone!" Hanabi yelled as she turned towards the door that lead to the training courtyard.

"I could help you with your training, Hanabi!" Hinata called out desperately to her sister, wanting to prevent the rift between them expanding.

Hanabi sneered, "I don't need you to train me! You're only strong because that Naruto guy trains you!" she snapped before storming out, leaving a sad looking Hinata.

Hinata looked at the door her father left out of. "Father...don't you see your tearing our family apart?" she whispered to herself as she too left the dojo.

**The next day**

Naruto, Hinata, and Kiba all sat in their empty classroom; their sensei was more than an hour and half late.

"You think since she's known me for years, she wouldn't call me ' that Naruto guy.' I mean, it's kind of insulting," Naruto commented as Hinata told him about how Hanabi had stormed out the other day.

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata said sadly as Naruto's attempt to get her to smile did not work.

Naruto sighed loudly. "There isn't much you can do Hinata-chan. You've tried to talk to your father: he won't listen. You've tried helping Hanabi and she hates you for being stronger than her..." Naruto trailed off with a shrug. Telling people that there was no way to win wasn't a habit of Naruto's, but he and Hinata had tried everything they could think of to repair the rift in the Hyuuga clan.

The rift had only grown in the past seven years and Naruto was at a loss for what to do.

"Could you try to help her out with her stances more often? She thinks I got so strong because I trained with you," Hinata asked.

Hanabi would never admit it but she put Naruto on a pedestal. She had seen Naruto's insane training schedule once and instantly respected the blonde. She thought he was bat-shit crazy for doing a third of what he did, but she respected him immensely.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I'll train her when I have time to train Konohamaru." He thought about it for a couple of seconds. "That's going to be amusing couple of hours," he muttered aloud with a chuckle.

Hinata smiled warmly at him. "Thank you Naruto-kun!"

Naruto just grinned back. "No need to thank me Hinata-chan!"

"Wait, you just became a genin! Why in the hell do you get students already?!" Kiba yelled and got a supporting bark from Akamaru.

Naruto seemed to ponder it. "Maybe it's because I'm more awesome than you? Or maybe it's because you smell like wet dog," he responded in a mocking tone.

Naruto didn't hate Kiba, nor did he dislike him. They had a lot in common: pranks, bunking off in class, sleeping in class, and sarcasm.

And they both had feelings for the Hyuuga heiress.

Kiba had made several attempts to formally court Hinata. He couldn't just ask her out due to them both being clan heirs. But each attempt was sabotaged by Naruto.

He would sneak in and wreck his nice clothing, put laxatives in his food, give Akamaru and, by extension, him fleas...the list went on and on.

It was to the point that Hiashi had commented that he would never have to act like an over-protective father because Naruto filled that role already.

Hinata didn't particularly enjoy the "dates" with Kiba, or the other suitors, but she could never get out of them because of politics. She was always thankful that Naruto always caused trouble and gave the suitors reasons to cut the date short.

Kiba growled, "I don't smell like wet dog!" But this time Akamaru didn't voice his agreement.

"Yes, you do. I'm surprised even Akamaru can stand to be near you, he must be a very loyal friend," Naruto shot back in a playful tone. He chuckled when Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Traitor! I do not smell like wet dog! Tell'em Hinata-chan!" Kiba growled again, hoping Hinata would jump to his defense.

Luckily for Hinata, the door slid open and revealed a masked jounin with silver gravity defying hair.

"Yo, are you team seven?" he asked innocently, acting bashful and sorry that he was late.

He wasn't in the slightest.

He had debated showing up on time for once to see his little brother, but he had decided against it. He had an image to maintain. Admittedly, it wasn't a very good one, but it was his reputation and he'd do what he wanted with it!

Naruto narrowed his eyes on the man. His voice sounded incredibly familiar but he didn't recognize the man's...eye...or hair, since those were the only things on display.

"Yes! You're late sensei!" Kiba roared, Akamaru barking with his master.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head lazily, a habit Naruto also had. "Sorry about that! I had to help an old lady with her groceries," he responded with the same bashful tone.

No one in the room believed him, but none of them commented. "Well, meet me on the roof," Kakashi said as he shunshined away and went up to the roof. The three genin looked at each other, as if silently agreeing that they had gotten the short stick when it came to senseis, before they got up and made their own way to the roof.

**At the roof**

The three genin took a seat on the steps in front of their new sensei, who was reading an orange book that Naruto recognized.

_'Our sensei is a painfully bad liar and a pervert? Great.''_

He closed the romance novel and looked at his new future soldiers. "Now that you're all here, why don't you introduce yourselves? Stuff like your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future…stuff like that," he said lazily. He inclined his head to Hinata, "You start."

"My name is Hinata Hyuuga. I like training, cinnamon buns, and Naruto-kun. I dislike perverts and bullies," she gave Kakashi a pointed look, having also recognized the trashy book. "My hobbies are training with Naruto-kun and flower pressing and my dream for the future is to get rid of most of the traditions in my clan when I'm clan head," Hinata said shyly. She didn't stutter, but she was soft spoken by nature.

Kakashi nodded. He knew most of that from trailing the two until last year, but it was always nice to find out by less creepy methods.

Naruto decided that he would be going next. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like training, food in general, the sky, and Hinata-chan," he said, having decided to exclude Hell Week, just in case. "I dislike arrogant bastards, confined places, and people who try to hurt Hinata-chan. My hobbies are pranking, training, making new seals, and training with Hinata-chan. My dreams for the future? Hmmm, become Hokage? Hmmm, no... King of the world?...Maybe...?" Naruto asked himself, then he snapped his fingers. "My dream is to become Emperor of the Universe," he said with a smile, just now deciding on a dream.

It wasn't his true dream. His true dream was to help Hinata accomplish her dreams and protect her until his dying breath.

He also wanted to be able to fly.

Naruto couldn't explain it, but he always felt drawn to the skies. It had gotten to the point that Hinata once said that she was more used to seeing his exposed neck from looking up than she was to his face.

He just felt like he belonged in the skies, not chained to earth by gravity.

Kakashi nodded, knowing the dislike of confining places stemmed from his stay with the Uchiha. It tore at Kakashi's heart that Naruto was still dealing with the trauma he had suffered from, but he had expected it. Honestly, if Kurenai had done as much research on this year's genin as he had, she would have been able to make a compelling case to have both Sasuke and Naruto on her team. But she didn't care about Naruto.

Naruto refused to have any therapy sessions, though Kakashi had no room to talk, and refused to open up about what happened in the room. He wouldn't even speak to Hinata about it, as far as Kakashi could tell.

Naruto had more or less disappeared for the past year. He would show up for Hell Week or to eat, but other than that could not be found.

He even avoided ANBU trackers some of whom were Inuzukas. Hinata had known where he had gone, but she refused to tell anyone, even the Hokage. She told them that Naruto was training and wanted it to be a secret; she wouldn't betray his trust.

Neither the council nor the Hokage had been happy about that. But it was clear that Hinata would not budge; Hiruzen Okayed it as long as he wasn't doing anything dangerous.

No one noticed her gulp at that.

Kakashi was broken out of his musings when Kiba loudly proclaimed. "I'm Kiba Inuzuka! I like Akamaru, Hinata-chan, and my clan. I dislike having to clean the kennels, my sisters when they annoy me, and people who don't mind their own business," Kiba said as he glared at Naruto, who was looking up at the sky. "My hobbies are playing with Akamaru and training with Akamaru. My dreams are to become the best hunter-nin in the village!" Kiba said loudly with a feral grin.

After Kiba finished, Kakashi began his introduction. "My name is Kakashi Hatake. I don't really feel like telling you my likes or dislikes...my hobbies are...My dream for the future...that seems kinda personal, so I won't be telling you that either," he finished with an eye smile.

The genin looked unimpressed at the introduction. _'We only learned his name,' _they all thought in unison.

"Now that we all know each other, I'm afraid I have some bad news for you. You're not genin yet," he said.

Naruto looked impassive, but, on the inside, he was trying to think of what the man meant and Hinata's eyes went wide.

"What do you mean we're not genin? We passed the exam!" Kiba demanded.

Kakashi merely chuckled. "That test was merely meant to root out the hopeless cases. Each jounin gives their potential genin team a test. Despite sounding so simple, the failure rate is over 66% and the failures are sent back to the academy," Kakashi said wickedly.

Naruto's brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean that they're sent back to the academy? I haven't seen any of the kids that graduated back there," he asked.

Kakashi nodded. "They get sent to a different academy that focuses more on the physical aspects of being shinobi, but even when they graduate from that academy, they don't get jounin instructors. They get put on reserves until there's an opening in a genin squad or they prove themselves valuable enough to be apprenticed," Kakashi explained with a small shudder, remembering how close he and his team had been to failing their exam.

Naruto nodded, that made a lot more sense.

"If that's the only question, meet me at training ground seven at five A.M. Oh, and I recommend that you don't eat breakfast. You'll just throw it up," he said before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto sighed as he stretched. "Well...that's a shock! Wanna go get something to eat Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked and received a nod from his friend. As an afterthought, he turned to Kiba, "You wanna tag along? Since we're teammates now?" Naruto asked with a careless tone, he didn't really want Kiba to tag along, but he figured that he should at least try to get along with the Inuzuka.

Kiba shook his head. "I have to train for tomorrow," he lied; he just didn't want Naruto to mess with him before the exam tomorrow.

**The next day**

Naruto was fiddling with two fused chain links that helped with chakra control. They were made of chakra absorbing metal that would only separate if the user put a very precise amount of chakra into them. Despite being such a simple idea, it worked very well considering you could do it on the move and the amount of chakra would change slightly every time you succeeded.

He looked up at his teammates, both of which were leaning up against the tree training poles in the center of a clearing.

"I wonder if this is a habit of sensei's?" Naruto wondered aloud. Their sensei was almost two hours late again today.

"I hope not," Hinata said as she got up and stretched. While Hinata was a patient person, this was ridiculous.

As if on cue, a swirl of leaves appeared in front of them. "Yo! Sorry I'm late. A black cat walked across my path so I had to take the long way," Kakashi lied, putting no effort in being believable.

All three genin sweatdropped. _'It's defiantly a habit, ' _Hinata thought sadly.

"Now that we're all here, we can begin the test," Kakashi began, as if someone else had been late. "Your goal is to take these bells," he said as he held up two bells, "from me by noon today. If you fail to do so, you'll get tossed back into the academy and end up in the reserves," Kakashi said as he tucked the bells through his belt loop.

"There's only two bells," Naruto deadpanned as he curiously looked at Kakashi; he definitely knew this guy from somewhere.

Kakashi beamed at him. "Very good! Point for you! There are only two bells, so that means that only two of you can pass. The one who doesn't get a bell ends up in the academy," Kakashi explained.

Kiba tensed at that. This was his chance! If he could get those bells, he'd give one to Hinata and Naruto would get booted to the academy! That way, he couldn't get in the way between him and Hinata anymore!

Naruto's puzzled expression intensified. He knew for a fact that genin teams consisted of three genin and a jounin sensei, so why was Kakashi telling him one of them would fail anyway? Would the third member be replaced with a genin that had already failed the exam?

"Since there are no more questions, begin on three. One...two...three!"

Two blurs escaped into the forest as Naruto remained, still staring at Kakashi with an intense expression.

Kakashi met his little brother's glare with an amused expression. "When I said go, you were meant to go," he informed.

Naruto nodded. "I know, but I'm trying to figure out where I know you from. Your voice sounds familiar," he responded, still staring at Kakashi.

Kakashi's eye widened slightly. The only times he had ever spoken to Naruto were after he had escaped from the Uchiha torture chamber and once when he was four years old and had a nightmare. He had comforted Naruto after, but it took a while. Truth be told, the boy had only calmed down after he left...but he couldn't possibly remember that, could he?

After being stared at for over a minute, Kakashi told him that he'd tell Naruto later and the two both got in taijutsu stances, with Kakashi pulling out his book. Kakashi knew that he probably wasn't going to get to read, but a frustrated or angry opponent was a sloppy opponent.

The two clashed in midair with furious punches and kicks. Both were mere blurs as they attacked one another.

Naruto took a round kick to the jaw and narrowly dodged the left hook that followed. Naruto retaliated with a series of kicks and punches that were so unpredictable that Kakashi thought he would have a tough time predicting them even if he had his left eye on display. However, none of the blows landed and Kakashi even began using his book to block some of the strikes.

Naruto blocked a knee to the gut with both his forearms before quickly retaliating with an elbow to the face by a quick twist in his body. Kakashi caught the blow with his hand and placed his book under Naruto's armpit before lifting hard and throwing him across the clearing, immediately putting the book away.

As Naruto flew across the clearing, he did a series of impressive mid-air acrobatics to keep facing his opponent before finally facing the ground and a blue phantom hand shot out of his outstretched hand towards Kakashi.

Kakashi narrowly managed to dodge the phantom hand; he had been expecting Naruto to use this trick. The Hokage had told him about Naruto's inherited Kekkei Genkai and he could only admire the effectiveness of the technique.

Kushina's chakra chains had a major flaw that she herself had admitted, her chakra chains couldn't grab on to something. They could wrap themselves around something or pierce it but she couldn't, for example, catch something that was being hurled at her in midair.

Naruto's variation didn't have that flaw.

Kakashi blinked in surprise as the one phantom hand suddenly became two as he was now forced to focus completely on the hands that were trying to grab the bells. He would have used Obito's **Sharingan** eye, but he knew that revealing the eye wouldn't help the point of the exercise.

Naruto chased after Kakashi with his chakra arms. Two arms weren't even close to how many he could do, but since Kakashi was holding back, he thought he should as well.

"**Earth release: Mud wall**!" Kakashi called out, using the wall to get a small breather from the relentless arms.

Naruto smirked as he focused on his chakra at the palm of one of the chakra arms.

Kakashi took a deep breath; to say he was impressed with Naruto's ability would be an understatement. He used his chakra arms just as well as Kushina's chains.

Then he heard the sound of earth being drilled.

Kakashi jumped back moments before a chakra arm wielding a Rasengan burst through his earth wall and narrowly missed hitting Kakashi in the stomach. Kakashi launched back into a handspring and continued flipping until he landed on the lake. _'He's turned the Rasengan into a long ranged attack?' _Kakashi thought in what could only be described as awe.

Out of the three people that knew that jutsu, only Naruto had succeeded in improving the Rasengan.

Kakashi didn't know if he should feel proud of his little brother or feel angered that he was using it against a comrade.

Kakashi started to fly through hand signs for **Water release: Water dragon** jutsu, but was interrupted by a volley of senbon being launched at him, two of which nailed him in the leg.

Kakashi's eyes widened in shock as that leg immediately plummeted through the water's surface. It took him a moment to realize that the senbon had hit his Tenketsu and that they were laced with chakra.

A second later, he was joined by Hinata on the water's surface. Hinata's usual shy look was replaced by a cool and collected mask, ready for combat.

Kakashi chuckled as he forced his weight on one leg. "You have incredible aim," Kakashi complimented as he yanked the senbon out his leg. "I'm guessing that one of the traditions you want to break is your clan being close ranged fighters?" he thought aloud.

It had always struck him as odd that a clan full of shinobi that could see miles around them focused on close-ranged attacks.

Hinata nodded as she prepared another volley. "I also wish for my clan to become medics. With our **Byakugan **and chakra control, we could become some of the best," Hinata said as she launched the next volley.

Kakashi dodged the senbon with a series of acrobatics, since he couldn't use his leg, and tried to make his way towards the shoreline. However, Naruto had teamed up with Hinata.

Naruto joined the two on the water's surface and put Kakashi under pressure. Kakashi was having a hard time keeping up due to one leg being useless on the water. Kakashi realized just how reliant he'd become on Obito's eye to keep track of his enemies when Hinata had managed to sneak up on him with those senbon.

Kakashi dodged and deflected Naruto's attacks and Hinata's senbon, but eventually Naruto got under his guard when his useless leg tried to support him on the water and he stumbled.

Naruto delivered a powerful left hook that Kakashi still batted aside, but was quickly followed by an upper kick to the jaw, sending Kakashi into the air. Naruto flipped in midair, using the momentum of his kick, and as Kakashi began his flight, he reached out and nearly grabbed one of the bells.

However, Kakashi saw that Naruto was about to break the test so he planted his useless foot in the boy's face before falling backwards into the water.

Kakashi allowed himself to fall into the water as he calmed himself. He was starting to consider not holding back on these two; they were pushing him pretty hard!

He swam down to the bottom of the lake, dodging past the chakra arms that were trained on him. When he did reach the bottom, he used a supplemental earth jutsu to tunnel through the earth and away from the lake.

He surfaced a few hundred yards away from the lake and took the time to test out his leg. As he thought, he still couldn't channel chakra past his knee, but it was otherwise fine. He mentally ticked off the techniques that were now unusable or severely limited: shunshin, enhanced kicks, and surface walking.

As Kakashi massaged his leg, he heard a not so subtle rustling in the bushes. He sighed but pretended that he didn't hear it.

Kiba smirked up in the trees as he watched his weakened sensei tried to regain feeling in his leg. It had been purely by chance that Kakashi had resurfaced nearby; Kiba had been watching the battle between Naruto-teme and Kakashi-sensei up in the trees.

Kiba had been shocked by Naruto's strength. He knew Naruto chose to be the dead last, but he never thought he would be able to push back a jounin! Which brought up the question: why was Naruto holding back in such an extreme degree? Why would he stay at the bottom of the class when he could have been at the top with ease? Was it because he wanted to be on the same team as Hinata?

He had watched in envy as Naruto pushed back Kakashi-sensei to the lake with those odd chakra arms and that weird jutsu and how Hinata sunk sensei with her senbon.

_'I really need to get one of the bells soon if I'm going to be on Hinata-chan's team...' _Kiba thought worriedly, Akamaru letting out a low whine as if he heard his master's thoughts.

It had to be a gift from kami that Kakashi had surfaced only a couple of yards away from his location, right?

"**Tsūga**!"

Kakashi looked up in fake surprise as he watched the incoming attack heading towards him. He waited until the very last moment to dodge the incoming death drill by smacking Kiba away with the back of his hand.

Kiba went flying to the side and crashed into a tree, breaking it, before coming to a violent stop.

"Oh? You're out of it already? Guess my team will be Hinata and Naruto...probably for the best. Did you know that it's incredibly common for the female on a team to end up dating or marrying one their _teammates_? I guess she'll end up with Naruto," Kakashi said in a bored tone as he once again pulled out his little orange book.

He was trying to make Kiba mad, but also dropping subtle hints about the true meaning behind the test. Hinata and Naruto were working together perfectly, but he couldn't pass them unless all of them worked together.

Kiba growled like a kicked dog as he got up. "Oh yeah? How do you like this!? **Man beast clone**!" he yelled furiously.

Akamaru, who was behind Kakashi, suddenly morphed into a perfect copy of Kiba.

"**Gatsūga!"** Kiba yelled out as he begun to rotate. Kakashi didn't need to turn around to know that Akamaru was doing the same. It was the teamwork version of the same jutsu, after all.

Both of them shot forward and Kakashi jumped into the air to avoid a collision. Both Kiba and Akamaru both brushed by each other, but didn't harm one another, before they spiraled up a tree to attack Kakashi in midair.

Kakashi let out a low whistle as he watched the two spinning wheels of death came at him in the front and behind. He was impressed with Kiba's ability to use multiple clan techniques. Most clan heirs could only use one of their clan's techniques.

However, it wasn't enough.

Kakashi noticed that Akamaru was a little bit faster than his master was and Kakashi used that to dissect the jutsu. As Akamaru neared Kakashi, Kakashi placed a foot on Akamaru's side and drove him into his master.

The two clashed in midair, canceling the jutsu, and both fell to Earth.

Kakashi landed gracefully, still reading his little book, before sighing as he saw Kiba was struggling to get back up.

"You don't really think you can win, do you?" he asked in a slightly annoyed tone, if Kiba kept pushing himself then there was a chance that he would accidentally fail the team because he would be dead weight.

"S-Shut up, Cyclops!" Kiba yelled as he stood up. He reached into his pocket and took out a small tube of pills**. **Kiba tossed one of the soldier pills to Akamaru before taking one himself.

Kakashi watched in mild interest as Akamaru turned a bloody red and Kiba looked more feral than he already did.

Kakashi sighed as he closed his book. "You're very stubborn," Kakashi commented.

Kiba responded by throwing a few smoke bombs at Kakashi before calling out, "**Gatsūga**!" again.

Kakashi used his earth jutsu again and disappeared beneath the earth's surface while Kiba attacked nothing above him.

_'So I have my little brother, who's a prodigy like no other. I have a Hyuuga that broke clan traditions and uses at least one long-ranged ability. And I have an Inuzuka that can use several clan techniques. It seems that I lucked out with this team...if they pass,' _Kakashi commended beneath ground.

When he heard the commotion above stop, Kakashi moved under Kiba and yanked him down until only the boy's head remained before resurfacing.

He chuckled at Kiba's expense, who was yelling at him to dig him out. No matter how many times he sees it, it was always funny to see someone buried up to their necks. His amusement did not last long when a volley of senbon turned a nearby log that he had kawarmmied with into a pincushion.

Kakashi thought it was a little unnerving that they were coming at him hard enough to kill even though he had forgotten to tell them to come at him with the intent to kill.

Kakashi shunshined away, his leg having finally recovered, wondering if the three would team up. Kakashi knew that Naruto and Hinata would be able to get the bells on their own, but he wouldn't be able to pass them as a genin team if they didn't all work together.

Naruto and Hinata jumped into the clearing, cursing their luck that they had just missed Kakashi. Then they saw Kiba's head and Akamaru, who was furiously trying to dig his master out.

Hinata immediately rushed over and helped digging him out as Naruto fell to the ground laughing.

"Oh that's so rich!" Naruto said, still laughing at Kiba's expense.

Kiba glared bloody murder at him in response. "Shut it Uzumaki!" he snarled.

After Hinata and Akamaru had finished digging out the Inuzuka, Kiba thanked them both but he claimed that he didn't need their help to get out.

After Naruto finished rolling his eyes, he said, "Now that Kiba is out of his hole, we need to discuss something," finishing in a serious tone.

Kiba's eyes narrowed. "Yeah? What would I need to talk to you about?" Kiba shot back; he didn't like the fact Naruto was taking charge.

Naruto let out a sigh of annoyance. "Teamwork."

Hinata quickly took it up from there. "Naruto and I believe that Kakashi-sensei is lying about one of us failing no matter what. So we think we should work together," she explained, calming the nin-dog user.

"Whaddya mean he's lying?" Kiba asked and Akamaru barked the same question.

"Hinata-chan said we _think _he's lying. We're not sure though. I know for a fact that genin teams consist of three genin and a jounin instructor-"

"How do you know that?" Kiba cut in, interrupting Naruto.

Naruto gave him a dull stare. "The academy. You should know that twice over since you're a clan heir," Naruto said in a flat voice.

It was moments like these that he hated being the dead last because, on paper, people like Kiba were considered smarter than he was.

That bothered him.

Kiba tried to think of an excuse as to why he didn't know that, especially because he actually did know it. He had just wanted to spite Naruto. "Shut up!" Kiba yelled when he couldn't think of a reason.

Naruto just rolled his eyes and gave Hinata a look of are-you-sure-you-want-to-team-up-with-this-guy. Hinata paused, then nodded.

"As I was saying, three genin and a jounin. We think that the bells are a lie and the real reason behind the test is teamwork, however, we could be wrong. He may be telling the truth and one of us will fail, even if we get the bells, and a genin from the other academy will replace the one that fails," Naruto explained.

Kiba seemed to mull this over. "What if you're wrong? Who fails?" Kiba asked with a challenging tone. He would die before he let Naruto send him back to the academy.

Naruto shrugged. "We'll burn that bridge down when we cross it," he answered, fully intending for Kiba to be the one to fail if they were wrong.

It was nothing personal but he wouldn't be able to protect Hinata if she wasn't on the same team as he was.

Kiba looked down at Akamaru, who gave a quick yip of his agreement to the deal. Kiba nodded in agreement as well. If Akamaru thought it was a good idea then it usually was.

Hinata smiled lightly as the two agreed to work together. "Good...now, I have a plan."

...

Kakashi's reading was interrupted by a series of smoke bombs exploding all around him. Kakashi sighed as he put up his favorite novel and prepared himself for Kiba's repeat performance. However, something different happened.

A volley of senbon pierced through the thick smoke, none of which hit Kakashi but it had been close.

Kakashi launched himself backwards, hoping to get out of the black smoke before Hinata hit him again. _'So they're working together? Perfect!_' Kakashi thought happily as he raced out of the smoke.

Once Kakashi escaped the black smoke, he was greeted by several of Naruto's chakra arms. He dodged between them, but it was a mere distraction. Kiba and Akamaru were trying to pierce him while he had been distracted. Kakashi dodged both spinning attacks only to be caught by one of Naruto's chakra arms.

Naruto pinned down Kakashi as he used his arms to take the bells.

Kiba and Akamaru both let out shouts and barks of joy as Hinata was smiling, happy that her plan had worked.

"It seems like we've won Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said as he let his sensei up, giving the bells in his possession a jingle.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. "Yes it seems you have...now...which one of you will fail?" Kakashi asked in a serious tone, dropping his hand as he stood up.

Kiba and Akamaru both stopped jumping for joy in an instant and Hinata's smile dropped.

"Y-You mean one of us still fails?" Hinata asked in a small, upset voice. She had been hoping that they all would get to pass.

Kakashi nodded gravely. This was his own unofficial test to punish them for actually beating him. They all passed regardless, but he needed to see how far their teamwork went.

As expected, Naruto tore the bells in two and tossed one of them to Hinata. Hinata caught the bell with ease but stared down at it in guilt. She glanced over at a crestfallen Kiba and Akamaru; they knew something like this could happen.

Kakashi watched proudly as Hinata walked over to Kiba and offered the bell. "You deserve this more than I do. If it wasn't for your smoke bombs then Kakashi-sensei would have seen Naruto's chakra arms," she lied. Naruto could have gotten the bells with his own smoke bombs and chakra arms, but she knew that Inuzukas had very frail egos.

Kiba stared at the bell in shock, then at Hinata, then back at the bell. "A-Are you sure H-Hinata-chan?" he asked, knowing that this was a major deal. He took the bell as Hinata nodded, thanking her with vigor.

Naruto suddenly threw his bell to Hinata. "And you need that bell more than I do. I can only imagine the hissy-fit that Hiashi will throw if his daughter doesn't pass," Naruto said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, showing that he wouldn't take the bell back.

Hinata still tried, but Naruto refused to take it, even letting the bell drop from his chest to the ground.

Then a small silver bell almost hit him in the head, but a small blue hand of chakra that came out from the side of his head caught it.

Naruto looked over at Kiba with a puzzled expression. Was he really going to give up a chance to be with Hinata?

Kiba kicked up the dirt. "Don't looked so shocked ya' teme! Inuzukas follow a pack ideal and sometimes a member of the pack has to make a sacrifice," Kiba said sullenly, mentally cursing his instincts.

Kakashi beamed at his genin. "Congratulations! You all pass!"

There was silence.

"WHAT?!" Kiba roared, Naruto and Hinata looking just as surprised as he sounded.

Kakashi chuckled. "Yes you all pass...you actually all passed when you all started to work together, but I wanted to see how far you were willing to go for your new teammates." He gave them all an eye smile. "You all did excellent, and we have our first team meeting tomorrow morning."

The shock had worn off by now and Kiba had resumed jumping for joy. Naruto gave Hinata a foxy grin. "Wanna go celebrate?" he asked her.

"Yeah that's a great idea! Let's go get barbecue!" Kiba butted in, causing Naruto to scowl.

"You haven't been invited yet, Fido," Naruto responded in an annoyed tone. He didn't like it when people disrupted his alone time with Hinata-chan. Not because of anything romantic, it was just that he was comfortable with it being the two of them, having been just the two of them for so long.

"Now, now, play nice. However, celebrating does sound nice...as your sensei, it'll be my treat," Kakashi said before Kiba had a chance to respond to Naruto.

Naruto's tone completely changed after that, all thoughts of discomfort set aside for a free meal. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go eat!" Naruto said happily as Hinata thought that their sensei had just made a very big mistake for his wallet.

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**I know a lot of you must be thinking, "Why in the hell did you make Naruto the dead last if people would know he was faking?" I don't want to ruin the surprise but I do have a plan for it down the road. It's one of those details that don't really make sense now but as the story progresses will make more sense.**

**Leave a review!**


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto was staring up at the ceiling deep in thought. He ignored the clicking of the fan overhead. He ignored the drips from his faucet. He ignored the cold chill of the early morning.

It was a little past 5 A.M., which was when he would usually be running around the village or doing one fingered pushups, but Naruto wasn't in the mood to train.

He was too busy thinking of a possible answer for the Shadow Clone jutsu that he knew by instinct.

He was at a dead end. He couldn't think of anything that could possibly explain how he knew it. It just didn't make sense.

Naruto groaned as he sat up, not due to soreness, but because he wanted to keep laying down. He placed his feet on the icy floor, not even flinching at the cold, and slowly made his way to the shower.

He stripped down, shedding the odd sleeping cap that looked like a dog and matching pajamas that Hinata had gotten him, before getting into the hot shower.

Naruto did his best thinking in the shower. Naruto let out a happy sigh as the hot water rolled over his body and let his mind wander.

Today would be his first team training session and an overdue talk with Kakashi. They had tried to sneak away from Kiba, but it seemed that the dog had boundary issues. He would loudly call out every time he and Kakashi would sneak away to talk and tried to follow them. "There shouldn't be secrets in a pack!" he would yell. Naruto told him to mind his business, but Kiba was relentless.

Naruto wasn't sure how he felt about Kakashi claiming to have tried to be there for Naruto as a child. For years it had been just him and Hinata, with the occasional visits from Iruka and the Hokage, and that was how he liked it.

Despite his seemingly open nature, Naruto could be cold to people other than those three. He would joke around with others, but he had a hard time placing any trust in them.

Hinata figured that the cause of this was his stay with the Uchiha, but no matter what she did she couldn't get Naruto to talk about what had happened in the room. At best, she would get a minor detail that he would accidentally let slip, but it was still the one secret between the two.

Naruto didn't know what to expect when he and Kakashi finally had their conversation.

He let out another sigh as he gave his head a shake, sending water everywhere. He didn't know what to expect so he wouldn't expect anything. That's how life worked for him: if he didn't hope for anything then he was never disappointed.

That's why he didn't expect for Hinata to return his feelings. She was the clan heiress for the most well respected clan in Konoha...He, on the other hand, was a clanless orphan and the pariah of the village.

Life wasn't a fairytale. There were rarely happy endings and even less so for shinobi.

Naruto shook his head again, trying to get rid of the depressing thoughts. He turned his attention back to how his day would pan out.

After team training ended at three, he planned an hour and a half to train Konohamaru and Hanabi. He'd normally ask Hinata to tag along, but she'd probably say no because Hanabi didn't want her to see her train.

After that, he'd either train some more or hang out with Hinata-chan. Naruto was looking forward to that.

Naruto shut off the water and gave himself another shake, getting rid of the extra water before he dried himself with a towel. He was on his way out the bathroom when he paused by the barely fogged mirror. He quickly wiped the fog away and focused on the seal visible on his stomach.

The seal was visible at all times now, not just when he was channeling chakra. Kurama had told him during their rare conversations it was because of their...friendship? Well, whatever they were, it caused the seal to be visible at all times.

The seal on his stomach was the Yondaime's last jutsu and it was a masterpiece.

Two elephant seals on top of an eight trigram seal, the hakke seal method, that not only kept Kurama sealed inside of him but also acted as a filter for the demonic chakra. Naruto understood that part of the seal perfectly.

Despite being incredibly, and he meant _incredibly,_ intricate and difficult, all seals stem from the basics. They were just different combinations of formulas and techniques that produced different results.

Except for one thing.

Strait down the middle, over his bellybutton and over the spirals of the seal, was a written formula. It was the same color as the rest of the seal and it seemed like it belonged there, but Naruto knew that it was a last minute addition.

What he didn't know was what the fuck it did.

Naruto had spent years trying to decrypt this small formula, but there was nothing even remotely similar to it in the history of fuinjutsu. What was worse was that Naruto couldn't even find a scrap of the basics in the formula; it was like it was written in it's own language of fuinjutsu and he didn't have a key.

He could find nothing on it. Aught, bagatelle, blank, cipher, diddly, insignificancy, naught, nihility, nix, no thing, nobody, nonbeing, nonentity, nonexistence, not anything, nothingness, nought, nullity, obliteration, oblivion, scratch, shutout, trifle, void, wind, zero, zilch, zip, zippo, zot.

Naruto glared at the figures written on him. He had the feeling that they were the answer or at least part of it. He didn't know how he knew but it seemed like the most likely culprit.

Naruto let out a sigh. He knew from experience that glaring at the seal wouldn't revel its secret. Naruto quickly finished drying off before he went to get dressed.

He glanced at the clock and saw that it was a little after 7:30. Naruto blinked in surprise. He had been in the shower for over two hours! He cursed to himself before grabbing his equipment and jumping out the window, grumbling that he missed breakfast all the way to the training ground.

**With Hinata**

Hinata was awkwardly eating her rice at the family table. Her father and sister were eating with her.

Hinata's eyes flickered over to the empty space beside her father and felt a pang of sadness in her heart. Her father had left the spot open since her mother died and refused to let anyone else take it.

Hinata missed her mother. She missed the hugs, she missed the kind smiles, she missed her patience when Hinata was trying to learn a new skill...Hinata missed everything about her mother. In her eyes, she couldn't ask for a better one.

However, Hinata stopped mourning her mother a long time ago.

Death was unavoidable. As depressing as it was, everyone dies eventually and that was just the cycle of life. Birth, living, death.

Hinata no longer mourned the loss of her mother because she understood that it was simply her mother's time. Did she wish that she had longer with her? Of course she did! But she knew that everyone had a limited time on earth and her mother's time had ended.

Her father, on the other hand, still mourned the loss of his wife, her mother terribly. She understood his loss, but Hinata could not understand how he dealt with his lost love. She could not excuse him tearing apart her family because he was unable to cope. She could not excuse him undercutting Hanabi's confidence, like he had once done to her, simply because he didn't like weakness.

Despite her father's praise, Hinata had grown distant from her father. Even more so than when he had ridiculed her. She saw how empty and pointless the praise was when it came at the expense of Hanabi's confidence. Hinata now thought herself a fool for ever wanting her fathers approval.

"Hinata, I understand that you have your first team training today," Hiashi said in monotone as he put down his now empty rice bowl that a branch member then took.

Hinata resisted a scowl as she watched one of her cousins be treated like a mere servant but nodded.

"I know you'll show that you are worthy of being the Hyūga heiress," Hiashi said, like that was the highest praise imaginable.

Hinata managed a stiff nod, although, truth be told she felt insulted. She did not view her clan as great. They enslaved their kin and were arrogant and foolish. Hinata knew that her clan had great potential and she fully intended to tap into that potential when she was clan head.

"I'm training with Naruto!" Hanabi blurted, hoping for a mere scrap of the same approval that her sister received.

Hiashi nodded in acknowledgment though his facial expression did not change. While he didn't like Naruto personally, he knew he owed a great deal of Hinata's growth to the jinchuuriki.

"Good, maybe he can help you with the holes in your stances...and mind your manners. You are a main branch member. Act like one," Hiashi said in a cold tone. He didn't like the thought of a non-Hyūga helping his daughter with her Gentle Fist but he couldn't argue with results. Naruto had turned Hinata from a failure into one of the most talented Hyūga's in several generations.

He didn't exactly approve of her changes to the Gentle Fist, but he liked them better than the alternative.

He tried to pry the training method and the full style written out of Hinata, but she stubbornly refused. No matter how hard he pressed, she would simply say that he would see when he retired and she became clan head.

With any luck, Hanabi would receive the same training as Hinata and she would tell him.

Hanabi's eyes brightened. While her father's tone was cold, he had shown an inch of approval and that made her hungry for more.

Hinata stood up and picked up her empty bowl. "I have to leave for training, father," she said before turning to her sister. "Naruto-kun said to meet him at the training ground seven. I know you'll do great Hana-chan," Hinata said with a smile, hoping that her encouraging words would mean something to her sister.

They did not.

Hanabi glared at her sister, thinking Hinata was mocking her, and said, "Of course I'll do great! I'll do better than you _sister!_" Hanabi snapped, spitting out the last word with venom.

Hinata wanted to cry that she couldn't even encourage her baby sister without her thinking it was ridicule, but she didn't. She choked back her frustrations and went to the kitchen to deposit her bowl before leaving for the training grounds.

**With Kiba**

Like Hinata, Kiba was eating breakfast with his family.

However, unlike Hinata, there was no awkward tension. That was replaced with dogs barking and siblings arguing.

"Sounds to me like that Kakashi totally kicked your ass!" Hana laughed as she poured another bowl of cereal. She had discovered it on a mission a year ago and faithfully ate it every morning since.

A tic mark covered Kiba's face. "He did not kick my ass!" he denied with Akumaru supporting the lie. "He just...ummm..." Kiba trailed off, unable to think of an excuse for how badly Kakashi manhandled him.

"...totally and utterly demolished you?" Hana finished with a feral grin as she saw her sweet little brother flounder.

Of course she knew that the odds of Kiba managing to lay a hand on Kakashi were slim to none on a Kakashi's worst day, but she loved giving Kiba a hard time. Mainly because she enjoyed seeing him frustrated.

It was immensely amusing.

It could never be said that it was boring at the Inzunka clan house...or quiet, for that matter.

"It sounds like you got your butt handed to you and the only reason you passed is because of Naruto," Hana said in a teasing tone, responding to something Kiba had said and Kiba scowled at that.

"H-he just got lucky, thats all! I didn't need the baka's help! Plus, I gave him _my _bell! So I'm the reason _he _passed!" Kiba yelled angrily, though he knew it was a lie.

He knew that if it had been just him and Hinata, then odds are they wouldn't have passed because he would have charged in and been incapacitated. That would have left Hinata on her own against a jounin. Kiba knew Hinata could handle herself, but odds are she wouldn't have lasted in the long run.

Naruto really didn't need them there. From what Kiba saw, Naruto could have gotten the bells on his own and the only reason Kiba was a genin was because Naruto got the bells and Hinata's kindness.

"Speaking of your teammates, you never told us what you think of them Kiba," Tsume said, speaking for the first time.

Kiba scratched his head in thought. "Well, Hinata-chan..." He trailed off with a blush. Tusume and Hana both rolled their eyes at Kiba's train of thought.

"Mom means deeper than you think Hinata's hot, idiot," Hana informed and got an agreeing nod from her mother.

Kiba wanted to snap, but held it in. He knew from experience that his sister and mother were easy to anger in the mornings. "Basically, she's really nice and a bit shy, but she has a pretty big ambition: she wants to get rid of most of her clans traditions! She's already broken one of them when she used senbon to take out Kakashi's leg. That was pretty cool, and I'm guessing that she has a few more tricks up her sleeve," Kiba explained.

Hana and Tsume's opinion of Hinata skyrocketed with that information. The Inuzukas and the Hyugas had a bit of bad blood between them, even though they were commonly paired together for tracking teams.

The Inuzukas had a strong distaste for the Hyugas because of how they treated their kin. Inuzukas believed in the pack ideal, a trait gained from their partners, and it sickened them to no end that the Hyugas enslaved their branch members. The Hyugas in return disliked the Inuzukas because they thought they were dog-worshiping Neanderthals.

They were immensely happy that a Hyuga was finally seeing just how twisted their clan was and were going to do something about it.

"She also really, really, _really _likes cinnamon buns and she smells like flowers, sweets and...Naruto," he added that last part somewhat reluctantly.

Despite sounding so creepy, smelling someone was common for an Inuzuka. You could find out just as much, if not more, about a person than you could gain by talking to them.

Hana and Tsume shared a look and Kiba blushed in anger. "Get you minds out the gutter, pervs! We're thirteen! They just spend a lot of time together, thats all!" he yelled in frustration, having recognized the look shared between the two.

Hana chuckled. "I dunno Kiba~! You are technically adults now~," Hana said in a singsong voice, enjoying the look of jealous anger that flashed across Kiba's face.

Kiba shook the thought of Hinata and Naruto...together...away. "They're. Just. Friends," Kiba ground out.

His family chuckled at his expense before Tsume asked, "What about the blonde? What's your take on him?"

Kiba scowled at the thought of Naruto, especially so soon after the mental image he had just had, but he sighed instead of getting angry. "Naruto's an alpha," he started in a resigned tone, he knew it would be pointless to hide that fact.

Hana's eyes widened at the admission. Despite sounding like a trivial thing, being an alpha was a big deal in the Inuzuka clan.

Their clan was constructed under a pack hierarchy. The alpha example: Tusume. Alphas lead a pack, they are the strongest, and born leaders. The beta example: Hana and Kiba. Betas did the grunt work and obeyed their leader, much to Kiba's annoyance. Lastly, the omega. They are loners who don't work well with the pack and aren't strong enough to form a pack of their own.

If Naruto was a born alpha then that meant he out-ranked Kiba when it came to team decisions.

Hana was shocked by Kiba's admittance because she knew Kiba desperately wanted be an alpha; he hated taking orders and being submissive to anyone.

"Really? Continue Kiba," Tsume commanded, much more interested in the conversation now.

"Okay. I knew that Naruto was holding back in the academy, I remember when he broke Sasuke-teme's arm, but I had no idea how much. Naruto probably didn't even need us there. I'm sure he would have gotten the bells on his own with enough time. He's incredibly protective of Hinata-chan," Hana laughed a that, remembering how Naruto put laxatives in Kiba's food to cut his date short, "He's a bit of a dick but I guess that's because he doesn't have a pack of his own," Kiba thought aloud, unable to think of a time Naruto had been with anyone except for Hinata. "He smells weird though. He smells like a fox but he also smells like a bird. Like a hawk or something."

Tsume frowned at that. She knew why Naruto smelled like a fox but she couldn't think of a reason for why he would smell like a bird. Unless he had one as a pet, there shouldn't be a reason for him to smell like any kind of bird.

Her musings were interrupted as Kiba let out a loud, "Oh crap, I'm gonna be late!" as he quickly scarfed down his food and bolted to the door.

"Remember to talk to Kakashi about signing the dog summoning contract!" Hana yelled at her little brother and received an, "I'll remember!" in return before being followed by the door slamming shut.

**At the training field.**

The three new teammates all arrived at the same time at training ground seven. Hinata and Naruto greeted each other warmly before Kiba and Naruto nodded stiffly at each other, neither entirely sure how to greet one the other.

Kiba because of Naruto's alpha vibe. Naruto because he had very limited interaction with his own gender, not counting fights or pranks.

They walked towards the three training posts together and sat in silence, waiting for their sensei to arrive.

Normally, Naruto and Hinata would talk but, Hinata was in a bad mood because of breakfast. From experience, Naruto knew to give Hinata her space as she thought about the issue. Unfortunately, mornings like that happened very often in the Hyuga household.

Naruto was silent because he was thinking about Kakashi, even though he tried to focus his mind on other things.

Kiba was playing with Akumaru so he didn't even notice his team's silence.

Unlike before, they didn't have to wait for hours for their sensei to show up. A swirl of leaves later and their masked sensei was standing before them. "Yo," Kakashi greeted.

Normally, Kakashi would have spent an hour or two at the KIA memorial, telling Obito and Rin about his day and how he thought it was going to play out, but he decided to do that earlier in the morning today. That way he didn't have to wait to have the long over-due conversation with Naruto.

Kiba blinked in surprise. "You're on time today?" he asked out of surprise before narrowing his eyes in suspicion. "Is this going to be an everyday kinda thing or are you going to go back to your lame excuses tomorrow?" he asked, hoping it would be the former.

Kakashi's exposed eye looked a bit miffed. "My excuses are not lame...and yes, I'll try to show up a bit earlier," Kakashi responded, knowing that by showing up earlier he would lose sleep...though...it didn't make much of difference since Kakashi hadn't gotten eight hours of sleep in years.

Hinata's dark mood brightened a bit after hearing that, not by much, but she sported a small smile.

"Now, I got a very basic idea of your skill levels yesterday, however, they are not complete," Kakashi began, then turned and looked at Naruto and Hinata. "Both of you used water walking so I'm sure it's safe to assume that you mastered tree walking as well?" he asked and received nods from both. Kakashi looked at Kiba, his eye asking the same question.

"No, I've started it but I haven't made it past the half way mark yet," Kiba admitted, feeling a bit insecure that he was already so far behind his teammates.

Kakashi nodded. "Hinata, could you use your **Byakugan** to help Kiba with the exercise?" he asked and received a second nod. "While you two do that, Naruto and I will practice taijutsu elsewhere. That way we won't break your concentration," Kakashi lied.

Kiba nodded and headed over to the closest tree, believing Kakashi's lie. Hinata soon followed after him but she was wondering why sensei would use such awful excuses when he could lie well.

Kakashi motioned Naruto to follow him and they traveled in a heavy silence for a few minutes. They stopped walking when they reached a small clearing deep in the forest.

"So, I imagine you have a few questions...I promise to answer them to the best of my ability," Kakashi said, breaking the silence that had progressively gotten heavier.

"Just a few..." Naruto said quietly. Despite looking so calm, Naruto's eyes were darting all around, checking that they were alone and that Kakashi didn't lead him away to be assassinated.

Kakashi wanted to sigh wearily as he noticed Naruto examining his surroundings. It seems that Naruto didn't fully trust him yet. Suppressing the sigh, he motioned for Naruto to ask his questions.

"Who the hell are you and why do you seem so familiar?" Naruto deadpanned, asking the question like the thought of someone other than Hinata being kind to him was foreign. Kakashi's heart clenched painfully when he remembered that it probably was.

Kakashi kept silent for a few moments, trying to think of a way to break the news delicately.

"I was meant to be your older brother," he said solemnly.

Delicacy was for the weak.

Naruto blinked a couple of times. "Oh?" was all Naruto's brain could think to say because it was currently shutting down to process the bomb Kakashi had just dropped.

Kakashi nodded. "We aren't related by blood or by marriage, but I would have been like your older brother," Kakashi explained further, seeing Naruto's blank look. He didn't know if that was a good or bad sign.

"...if you were meant to be my brother then why in the _hell_ am I just now hearing from you?" Naruto demanded, an angry edge in his voice.

While he barely knew Kakashi, and by barely he meant _barely,_ hecouldn't help but feel abandoned given the new information. It was odd, considering that Naruto had never met Kakashi until three days ago but he felt like tossed away trash.

Naruto hated that feeling.

However, much to Naruto's surprise, Kakashi tensed and his one visible eye darkened in anger. "I was ordered to stay away from you," Kakashi said through grinding teeth.

"The councils denied my every attempt to adopt you; I jumped through every _fucking _hoop they had and they still told me I couldn't look after you! They refused to let me take care of you like family should! When they told me that, I rejoined ANBU and got myself assigned to your ANBU protection squad..." Naruto looked shocked. "I should have told the councils to go fuck themselves. If I had adopted you like I wanted, then those Uchihas wouldn't have gotten their hands on you. Hell, if I had been your tail that day, then they wouldn't have touched you," Kakashi finished furiously.

Naruto was acquainted with lies and masks. He knew from experience that the pure rage in Kakashi's eye was genuine. He knew the authenticity of the self-loathing anger in his stance.

"W-Why did they order you to stay away?!" Naruto demanded, feeling robbed of the chance of a different life. Possibly a better one, if Hinata was still involved.

Before Kakashi could answer, a voice answered from the forest. "Because my youthful rival would have killed everyone who looked at you in the wrong way!"

_'That voice...and there's only two people in the world that say youthful...,'_ "Guy?" Naruto asked in surprise.

Guy and Naruto had met during one of Naruto's training sessions a few years ago. When Guy got out of the hospital due to dehydration because he had cried for hours on end when he saw Naruto's "spirit of youth," they occasionally trained together. That was the extent of their relationship, though it wasn't a lack of trying from Guy.

"Hello my youthful prodigy-"

"Get out of here, Guy," Kakashi growled, already seeing through his friends sudden appearance.

"No can do, Kakashi. What kind of rival would I be if I let you risk your neck like this?" Guy said as he struck his signature pose.

Before Kakashi could respond, Naruto did so for him. "What does he mean by you risking your neck? Why do you care so much, why am I so important to you!?" Naruto demanded, there was no mistaking the anger in his tone now.

Kakashi looked over at Guy and gave him a look of are-you-going-to-try-to-stop-me-from-answering-tha t-question. Guy hesitated and with his eyes sent the message of you-can-tell-him-to-a-degree-its-a-secret-punishab le-by-death-so-don't-push-it.

"After my father killed himself, your father helped me and became like a new father for me," Kakashi deadpanned, ignoring the warning looks from Guy.

Naruto took a step back. "My... father?"

"Your father. He was a great man. He was terrifyingly powerful, kind and loyal to a fault, and one of the most honorable men I have ever known," Kakashi began to explain, awe in his voice as he thought about his late sensei. Minato had been the man that he aspired to be.

Naruto didn't know how to process that. Naruto had a theory of who his father was and Kakashi was giving him more evidence to support that theory.

"Who was he?" Naruto asked in a quiet voice, wiping the panic on his face that had been there moments ago.

"He was-" Kakashi began, fully intending to tell Naruto who his father was and to hell with the consequences! However he was cut off before he could spill the secret that would cost him his head.

"Kakashi! That's enough," Guy said, the 'youthfulness' gone from his voice and was replaced by a hard tone.

Kakashi glared at Guy, who glared in return. Guy gave a subtle shake of his head and Kakashi sighed, knowing that his long time rival was right.

"I'm sorry, Naruto," Kakashi said in a bitter tone, just because he knew Guy was right didn't mean he had to like it.

"Why the hell won't you tell me!?" Naruto yelled, angry that he had been just teased with the opportunity to learn for certain who his father was.

"That responsibility does not belong to me. Naruto, I want to tell you who your father was. But I can't. It's an SS ranked secret and I could end up in T&I for telling you as much as I did," Kakashi explained, his voice still holding a bitter edge.

Naruto swallowed. _'More evidence,'_ he thought. "If you can't tell me, then who can?" he asked, his voice still flat. He couldn't let them see just how eager he was and how badly he was panicking. Only Hinata-chan was allowed to see that part of him.

"Your godfather; Jiraiya of the Sannin," Kakashi answered. Kakashi had lost a great deal of respect for Jiraiya when the man had chosen work over family.

Naruto gulped, his theory was almost irrefutable at this point, but he shoved the thoughts away. _'Don't get worked up. I could still be wrong,' _Naruto thought to himself, even though he didn't think so.

Naruto distracted himself from the thoughts by shooting off questions at Kakashi, trying to get to know the man as a sensei but also as the older brother that he claimed to be.

At first he started with the basics: where are you from, how old are you, what are your hobbies, and so on before they started to get deeper.

Kakashi answered the questions like he was an open book, happy that his little brother was taking this seriously. He told Naruto about his academy days, about being the rookie of the year, and about being the son of Kohona's white fang. He told him about making chunin and eventually jounin at a young age.

Which lead to an in depth story of the last mission he had with his team as a whole and how he gained his **Sharingan** eye from his best friend.

After that, he began to explain how he looked over him as an ANBU guard and how he nearly killed the ANBU member that had allowed two Uchihas to grab him.

Naruto got a crash course on Kakashi's tragic life in one hour. Guy would occasionally pitch in or stop Kakashi from imparting too much information, but he mostly kept silent. He was glad that his rival and friend was finally getting the chance to speak face to face with the little brother he adored and he didn't want to ruin the moment...for once.

"One last question, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said after a short pause, thinking about all the new information he had just learned about the man. He was currently re-evaluating his entire opinion. Kakashi nodded, showing that he would answer if he could.

"You were the one who gave me the training scrolls, right?"

Kakashi chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, not surprised that Naruto had found him out. "Yeah. That was me."

"Thanks, I guess. If it weren't for those scrolls, I'd only be a third as strong as I am...so thanks Kakashi-niisan," Naruto said with a small smile.

While Naruto didn't trust easily, Kakashi had earned his trust twice over if half of what he said was true. And Naruto knew it was true because Guy would be screaming how unyouthful lying was if Kakashi lied. So Naruto let Kakashi become one of the few people that he considered precious.

In Naruto's eyes, Kakashi had been acting like a brother to him without him knowing it. Reassuring him when he was a kid, the scrolls, if he was right then Kakashi probably had a hand in the academy teachers' sabotage ending. While he didn't know Kakashi very well, he was hoping to.

Kakashi's eye went wide in surprise at the added suffix, he had thought it would have taken much longer to be seen as a brother in Naruto's eyes. As the shock wore off, Kakashi adorned his signature eye smile. "No problem Naruto-ontro."

Off to the side, Guy had tears streaming down his face, muttering to himself how youthful family reunions are.

After Guy stopped crying, Kakashi and Naruto headed back to Hinata and Kiba, while Guy returned to his own team. He was only there because Guy thought Kakashi wouldn't be able to resist spilling the beans about a few SS ranked secrets involving Naruto.

Kakashi and Naruto walked back in silence, though it wasn't a heavy silence like before. It was a comfortable silence because both of them were happy.

Kakashi had been accepted by Naruto, something that could take years to do, and even got to tell him a little about his parents.

Naruto had just gained another precious person and learned that Kakashi had been there for him even longer than Hinata. Although he was still a little ticked off that the identities of his parents had been dangled in front of him, he didn't let that get him down. He was just going to find Jiraiya, confirm his theory, then ruthlessly shatter every bone in his body for abandoning him.

They arrived to see Kiba take off in another attempt to master tree walking. He manged to get a little over half way before he cursed loudly because he began to slip. Naruto chuckled slightly at Hinata's slightly annoyed expression, he guessed that Kiba had been stuck at the same place since they left.

"Kiba, your chakra surges the moment you get an inch higher. You need to stay calm," Hinata said in a caring, yet scolding tone. A tone that she often used on Naruto, though it lacked the same familiarity.

"Sorry, sorry," Kiba grumbled before he got up to make another attempt but he saw Kakashi and Naruto. "You two are done already? That was a quick taijutsu lesson," he said in a disbelieving tone. He now thought Kakashi had lied to him and kept Hinata and him out of a secret.

"Naruto is a quick learner," Kakashi said lazily with a shrug, now reverting to his usual amount of effort in being believable.

Hinata ignored Kakashi and sent a questioning gaze at Naruto. He gave her a smirk, sending the message of, "I'll tell you later," with his eyes. Hinata nodded, showing that she understood.

Kakashi watched the small exchange and was overcome with the sense of nostalgia. He hasn't seen two people so in sync since sensei and Kushina.

"Liar! You two are keeping secrets from us! There's no secrets in a pack!" Kiba roared, ignoring the fact that his sister and mother often kept secrets from him.

"I doubt that," Naruto said in a bored tone as he walked over to Hinata.

Kiba wanted to argue but, much like his sister, he knew that Naruto wouldn't tell him unless he wanted to. So he settled for turning around with a loud "Hmph" and saying, "Fine then! I didn't wanna know anyways ya' teme!"

Naruto scoffed. "Whatever." He turned to Hinata. "I'm heading out since my lesson is over. Tell Hanabi to be here around four," he said with a smirk.

Normally, he'd stay even though he was done for the day, but he needed to be alone for a little while to sort through the revelations. He planned on talking about it with Hinata later, but right now he just needed to be alone.

A flash of concern flashed over Hinata's face. She recognized the smirk that Naruto used when he was dealing with something troublesome but then the look disappeared and she nodded before saying, "I will. Bye, Naruto-kun."

Naruto "said" that he'd tell her later so she'd just have to wait until then.

Naruto waved goodbye before disappearing in swirl of feathers. A particular shunshin that he had created a few years ago.

**With Hanabi**

Hanabi practically skipped all the way down to training ground seven. Why shouldn't she be happy? Today was the day that she took a major step forward to get out of her sister's shadow!

She knew Naruto may be reluctant to train her as well as he trained with Hinata, but she was determined to prove that she was better than Hinata. Once she did, Naruto would have no choice but to train her more seriously and then she was sure to finally surpass her sister!

Hanabi was bubbling with excitement by the time she reached training ground seven, however, her bubble of excitement was popped when she saw a dopey looking kid her age by the training posts.

She approached the boy and in a tone that made it clear she was a Hyuga said, "What are you doing here? My sensei and I have this training ground reserved. Leave!"

Konohamaru narrowed his eyes. "Oi! You can't just tell me to leave! And I'm here to train with boss!" he answered angrily.

Hanabi scoffed. "I can tell you to do what I want idiot! I'm a Hyuga!" she yelled angrily, as if Konohamaru should drop to his knees and crawl away.

It was Konohamaru's turn to scoff. "I know your clan... bunch of teme's! All of ya'!" Konohamaru insulted as he turned away with a huff. A series of tick marks covered Hanabi's forehead as she raised a fist. "Don't insult my clan, peasant!" she roared before she slammed her fist down on Konohamaru's helmeted head.

Konohamaru slammed into the ground, but Hanabi paid no mind to that.

She had just punched someone. She _punched_ the brat. That was new to her; she had always used her gentle fist style before so she never had any reason to use her fists. So why did she do it now? Why was it her first instinct to hit the peasant with a closed fist?

Her musings were interrupted when she heard a hearty chuckle behind her, she whipped around and saw it was Naruto.

"Naruto-sensei!" she greeted with a happy note in her voice before she sent a small glare at Konohamaru. "I was just dealing with this loser so we could begin training," she said coldly.

"Whatcha callin boss "sensei" for? And who are you callin' an idiot, idiot?" Konohamaru yelled before turning to Naruto. "Tell this pale-eyed weirdo to get outta here so we can train!" he demanded, sending a glare at Hanabi.

_'Seems like I was right...this is going to be amusing,' _Naruto thought with mirth. He needed it too; ever since Kakashi had mentioned his father he couldn't stop thinking about the odds of his father being the Yondaime.

They looked almost identical, the Yondaime was a moral man so he wouldn't grab some kid at random. Kakashi told him that his father was immensely powerful...at this point the odds were almost overwhelming.

However, Naruto refused to jump to conclusions.

There was always a chance that he could be wrong and he didn't want to think about it. He always shoved the thoughts of his roots away simply because he didn't know how he would react if his father was really the Yondaime.

"Sorry Konohamaru, but I won't do that." Konohamaru looked like he was about to loudly protest but Naruto turned to a smug looking Hanabi. "And you should stop being so mean to your training partner."

There was silence.

"WHAT?" the two students yelled before glaring at each other. "STOP COPYING ME!" they both yelled in unison but before they could yell at each other again, Naruto grabbed both of them by the scruff of their shirts. "Didn't I just say to stop fighting?" he asked rhetorically.

"Why do I have to train with _her,_ boss?" Konohamaru complained.

"Shut up, weirdo!" Hanabi yelled, taking another swipe at Konohamaru but Naruto pulled them further apart before she made contact.

Naruto simply sighed as the two continued to bicker.

"You shut up or I'll tell my grandpa!" Konohamaru threatened, causing Hanabi to roll her eyes.

"What's your grandpa going to do? Drool on me?" she sneered.

"My grandpa's the Hokage you jerk!" Konohamaru roared as he lunged at Hanabi, but like before, Naruto kept them separate.

Hanabi's eyes widened in surprise at that. This loser was the grandson of the esteemed Hokage? The God of Shinobi? The Professor? The hero of the first two shinobi wars?

Hanabi tsked. "Then the Saratobi clan has fallen dramatically, monkey boy."

Before Konohamaru could respond, Naruto gave them both a shake. "I said that's enough fighting," he said in a serious tone.

Both of them quieted down mumbling, "Sorry boss/sensei."

"I'm training you two out of the goodness of my heart but I expect you to listen to me or I'll tell you to hit the road," he threatened as he dropped the two children. "Now apologize."

They both tsked as they found great interest in their shoes. "I'm sorry," they said in unison but by no stretch on the imagination was it heart felt.

Naruto sighed again as he put his hands on his hips. "It's a start at least...now, give me 10,000 push ups!" he commanded.

Both of the children gaped at Naruto. "Are you crazy boss? We can't do 10,000 push ups! We'd die!" Konohamaru exclaimed as he frantically waved his arms up and down. Hanabi nodded in agreement.

"You can't?" Naruto said in a puzzled voice. "Hmmm, that throws out what I had planned for today...alright. Get in push up position then you wimps," he said as he crossed his arms.

After the two did what they were told, Naruto used his feet to make a few adjustments but when he was satisfied he said, "Begin, and don't stop until I tell you to."

He watched as they did the repetitive motion over and over again and he quickly became bored, so he let his mind wander.

Naruto started to think about a range of things; what he and Hinata were going to do after this, the revelation of him having an older brother, and lastly, he started to ponder how he would react if he did confirm his suspicions.

Despite knowing he really should, Naruto didn't hate the Yondaime. He knew that a Hokage had to put the village first, before family and friends and anything else. Hokages had to love the village more than life itself and sometimes they had to make sacrifices to protect the village.

Naruto was one of those sacrifices.

Naruto didn't think the Yondaime had been happy that he was forced to seal Kurama inside of him; he didn't think he wanted to either. There were simply no other options.

So Naruto didn't hate him. He was simply protecting the village he loved from harm and Naruto was a necessary sacrifice to protect the village.

He wasn't happy that he was chosen, but Naruto understood. Heck, sealing a tailed beast inside of a child paled in comparison to some of the things Naruto would do to keep Hinata safe and happy.

What Naruto didn't know was if he could forgive the man as a father.

Naruto didn't know if he could forgive his hero. The Yellow flash, the hero of the third shinobi war, the only man who's ever had a flee on sight warning, the man so powerful that when Konoha told the world that he killed an unkillble beast, the world believed them.

He was also the man who sealed the greatest tailed beast into his newborn son. The man who sacrificed his own flesh and blood to protect a bunch of narrow minded fools who fear and hate everything they don't understand.

That's what Naruto didn't think he was capable of forgiving and that's why he always shoved away his thoughts and feelings whenever he thought about the man who could be his father.

Naruto didn't want to hate the man who he spent years trying to surpass.

So Naruto pushed down his feelings before he even knew what they were. They could be forgiveness or they could be undying hatred, Naruto didn't know and almost hoped that he never did.

Him demanding Kakashi to tell him had been a moment of weakness, the temptation had been to great and Naruto had given in to curiosity.

Naruto's attention snapped back to reality as Konohamaru loudly fell on the ground, unable to continue. Hanabi did the same a second later.

"Whaa? You're already done? How many was that?" Naruto asked in a ridiculing tone.

Both of the children were huffing and massaging their sore arms. "I did 64!" Konohamaru yelled, sending a mocking glare at Hanabi. Hanabi looked embarrassed before looking away. "62," she said between clenched teeth.

_'No wonder father thinks I'm a failure...I can't even beat monkey boy in push ups!' _she thought in disgrace, shame welling in her chest.

"Wow...You both totally suck!" Naruto commented as he cleaned his ear with his pinky.

"We do not suck and I did more push ups than _her_!" Konohamaru yelled as he shot up and pointed at Hanabi, completely forgetting his weariness.

Naruto tsked. "You do too suck and you're forgetting that on average women have less brute strength than men do. So technically, she did like 10 more push ups than you. Not that it really matters, you both still suck something fierce," he said in a bored tone as he crossed his arms.

Hanabi sent a cocky smile over at Konohamaru before a thought struck her. "How many push ups could you do when you were our age, sensei?"

Naruto seemed to think about it. "With weights, a couple thousand. Without: 15,000 or so."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"WHAT? THATS IMPOSSIBLE!" Konohamaru screamed. There was simply no way! Boss was tough for sure but what he was saying had to be a lie!

Naruto winced at the sudden loud noise. "It is too. My body heals no matter what I put it through. Doesn't matter if it's a sprained ankle, broken wrist, or a missing arm, my body will always heal sooner or later. Because of that I could train myself harder than you can imagine," he explained as it the hellish training was nothing.

"Naruto-sensei...do you think you could train us like you did yourself?" Hanabi asked, thinking that Naruto's training would be the quickest path to surpassing Hinata.

"Yeah boss! Make us strong like you!"

"Absolutely not!" Naruto barked, suddenly turning serious. He broadened his stance and Hanabi couldn't help but to think that Naruto suddenly resembled her father.

However, Naruto seemed a lot scarier right now.

Konohamaru audibly gulped, completely unnerved by boss's sudden change in personality. "W-why not b-boss?" he asked with a stutter.

"If I put you through the training Hinata-chan and I did then you'd both die before the day was even over," Naruto said in a serious tone.

That struck a chord in Hanabi. "If my sister can do it, than I can too! Train me like you did her!" she demanded. If Hinata could do it then she could too!

Naruto's heavy gaze fell on Hanabi and Hanabi resisted the urge to drop to the ground and curl up in a ball. It felt like someone had just strapped training weights to her chest and shoulders and set them to max.

'_This is just pressure from his presence? What is this guy?!' _Hanabi thought in panic as the air around her suddenly became scarce.

"I told you no. You'll die," Naruto said in an authoritative voice, sounding like the Hokage when he was serious.

Hanabi clenched her hands and teeth. This wasn't how she planned for this to go! Naruto was supposed to see that she had more talent than her sister and train her accordingly! Her plan wasn't working!

"Then why did Hinata survive? I'm better than her! I can do it!" she roared, using a commanding tone that only belonged to nobles who weren't getting what they wanted.

Konohamaru gulped for Hanabi. Boss was really scary right now and he didn't think it was a good idea to yell at him. Though, in a way, he admitted that Hanabi had guts for standing up to Naruto. Maybe she was kinda cool...for a girl.

"Because the two of you lack resolve," Naruto said as he dropped his hands to his sides. He felt kinda bad for scaring the two kids to the point they looked like they were about to wet themselves but what he said was true. If they attempted his training schedule then their odds of lasting more than a day and surviving were practically at zero.

Some would think that he may be exaggerating but he wasn't. Naruto expected those who participated in his training to push themselves beyond their limits. These two didn't have the will to shatter their limits and keep going. Because of that, they would either die or be crippled.

"I have resolve!" Hanabi argued, taking a stance of defiance. She refused to be in her sister's shadow any longer!

Naruto tsked. "Yes, you have some resolve but it's pathetic. It's like glass: easily shattered," Naruto said in a dismissive tone.

Hanabi clenched her fist's until they bled. "You don't know anything about my resolve!" she yelled.

Her sensei sighed. "You want to surpass Hinata-chan and gain your father's acknowledgment," Naruto said lazily before he turned to Konohamaru, who gulped. "And you want to prove to the village that you're not the honorable grandson but your own man. Not the worst motivation but it's still weak."

Before either of them could defend their motivations, Naruto sighed loudly before digging in his pocket. "Man, this is a lot less amusing than I had thought it'd be," he commented before he pulled out a small green scroll. The same one he found on his kitchen counter many years ago. "I had a feeling something like this would happen."

He tossed the small green to Hanabi who looked between the scroll and him in surprise and curiosity. "What's this Naruto-sensei?"

"It's a scroll," he deadpanned in a playful tone, doing another complete 180 with his personality. He chuckled lightly as he saw both of their we-can-see-that expressions before explaining further. "I can't be here every day to train you two, so in that scroll is your schedule. I don't expect you to be able to do all of what it tells to to do, but do as much as you can. Then you try to do more tomorrow and so on, understood?" he explained and received nods from the two.

"Good, now I'm off to spend time with Hinata-chan...try not to kill each other okay? I don't need the headache," he said as he turned to walk away.

Suddenly he stopped. "And since I'm in a good mood I'll give you a hint about how to strengthen your resolves: a selfish resolve is a weak resolve," Naruto said in a sagely tone before disappearing in a swirl of feathers.

Hanabi and Konohamaru shared a look, both thinking the same thing, _'if a selfish one is the weakest...then whats the strongest?'_

**With Hinata**

"Lord Byakuya is visiting next week and he'll be brining his son with him. Akira wants to spend some time with you," Hiashi informed his eldest daughter at the dinner table. It was only the two of them because Hanabi was out training.

Hinata barely resisted the urge to groan and repeatedly slam her face into the table at her father's words.

If it was one thing about being a noble that she absolutely despised, her hatred of her clan's traditions not withstanding, was the fact that noble females were married off like cattle to improve ties with other noble families.

Very rarely did a noble female ever get to marry for love. Their families auctioned them off for profit, sacrificing them to a life of a loveless marriage to improve standing.

She once had a friend in the main branch that was married off to a fat, forty year old wealthy merchant when she was _ten_.

That girl had killed herself last year.

Hinata was no exception in the world of politics.

Her father was better than most. He wouldn't pressure her to marry a certain man or force her to go on a number of dates with her suitors if she said she didn't feel comfortable with them. However, he still made her go on dates with countless men hoping that one of them would catch her eye.

She tried telling him that she wasn't interested in anyone but he did not listen. He still forced her to spend time with the sleaze nobles because it could hurt the Hyuga reputation if they refused.

However, she was happy that her father was sending the suitors her way instead of Hanabi's way. That way Hanabi would be safe from corruption of politics

Oh, how she loathed politics.

"I see," she responded. She was now thinking how Naruto would be getting her out of this one.

Hiashi nodded. "I will have a dress prepared for you according to what the date will entail. I know I do not have to say this but I expect you to behave befitting of a Hyuga heiress," Hiashi said a tone that lacked warmth.

Hinata nodded again, hoping the conversation would just end so she could go met up with Naruto-kun. They hadn't really had a chance to spend time alone since graduation and he was taking her out to do something fun.

"Due to a...certain outside influence, I will be assigning a guard to make sure you two are both undisturbed and they will be given permission to use deadly force," Hiashi finished, taking note of the quick succession of emotions that passed over his daughters face.

Surprise, anger, outrage, disappointment, then lastly, a blank mask.

Hiashi was proud that his daughter had almost mastered controlling her emotions, though he wasn't happy with the ones he saw.

"I understand this displeases you but it is your duty to the clan as heiress. You will put aside your personal feelings and do what is expected of you," Hiashi said in a tone that brooked no argument.

Hinata nodded stiffly. This was the burden she shouldered in order to keep the little sister that hated her guts safe.

The world was a truly unkind place.

"Good," Hiashi said before he stood and left the room.

As the servant Hyuga went to pick up the dishes left by the clan head, she heard a loud snap. She looked over in alarm and, to her surprise, saw that Hinata had broken her chop sticks with furious tears stinging at her eyes.

"I hate that man," she said in a barely audible whisper but the servant heard it.

Feeling daring she set down the dishes and placed a tender hand on the trembling girl. "If I may Hinata-sama, you are just angry right now. We both know your blonde knight will rescue you," she said with a light smile.

Hinata wiped away her forming tears before smiling at the unnamed Hyuga. "You think so?"

"Of course Hinata-sama! Naruto-san is as stubborn as a mule and harder to move than a mountain! He won't let some pesky guard get in the way of his princess!" she said with a small giggle. She was poking fun at both of them, for both of them were completely oblivious to the other's obvious affection.

Hinata turned an unhealthy shade of red. "P-p-p-p-prin-princess? Y-y-you t-t-t-t-thi-think..." was as far as she got before she slumped over unconscious.

**A few hours later.**

The sun was on its way to setting as Hinata stood atop of the Yondaime's head. It was their usual meeting place and their favorite spot.

Despite the bad memories attached to the place, they both decided to focus on the good memories. This was the place where Hinata took her first stand and this was where Naruto found his first true friend.

"Where are you Naruto-kun?" she murmured before two hands covered her eyes.

"Right here, Hinata-chan~!" he whispered loudly, a grin audible in his tone. Hinata found herself smiling as she swatted the hands away.

Naruto let out a quick laugh. "Can you guess what I brought?" he asked in a teasing tone as he walked backwards to the bench at the top of the hill.

"Cinnamon buns?" she asked hopefully, completely forgetting about the day's burdens at the mention of the sweet pastry.

"Nope~!"

Hinata's hopes fell. If it wasn't a cinnamon bun then she didn't care.

Naruto chuckled as he saw Hinata's suddenly sad look. "Sorry but the bakery was sold out and I know you don't like the store brand kind that much so I got," he waved his hands in front of Hinata's widely smiling face. Out of no where a gallon tub of vanilla ice cream with two spoons suddenly appeared in his hands.

Hinata beamed at the display of magic. She once thought about using her **Byakugan **to see how he did it but she decided against it. She didn't want to ruin the mystery that she enjoyed.

Naruto gave his friend a foxy grin as she began to clap lightly before both of them headed to the bench and before long they were scooping up ice cream.

"How did Hanabi do today?" Hinata asked as she ate her favorite flavor of ice cream.

"I dunno, I left them my first scroll after I insulted their pathetic resolves," Naruto said in a casual tone as he took another scoop.

Hinata nodded sadly. "Do you think that'll work?" she asked. She knew Naruto had a reason for attacking her sister's resolve to defeat her. She trusted Naruto fully and knew he wouldn't do such a thing without good reason.

Naruto seemed to think about it. "I think so. If she finally realizes that surpassing you is a stupid goal, hopefully she'll finally figure out how much you love her and what you do to protect her," he said with a sigh.

Hinata sighed as well, hoping that this would finally bridge the giant chasm between her family.

"You're sighing a lot more than usual," Naruto observed. "Something upset you," he said, a glint entering his eye that promised years of pain for the offender.

Hinata suppressed another sigh as she began to explain how her father was putting more pressure on her to take the dates seriously. She left out the part where she almost broke down crying, of course, but she knew Naruto already knew without her saying anything.

Naruto's heart clenched painfully as he suddenly lost his appetite for the almost empty container.

He wanted to march over to the Hyuga compound and rip Hiashi's head out his ass but he wouldn't for two reasons. First, Hinata made him promise not to after he almost did when she told him about the first date. And second, he knew he really had no say in Hinata's love life.

Despite all his wishes, they were just friends. Sure he interfered with her dates but that's because she didn't like them. It would be only a matter of time before she would ask him to not interfere with a date.

That would be the day when Hinata began to pay less attention to him and more on her fiancé. He would steadily be forgotten by the person he cared most about. He would get shelved like an old toy and eventually his parts would wear down until he broke like every other toy.

However, if it meant becoming Hinata's broken toy to protect her and if it made her happy then it would be his burden to bear. He would suffer in silence for the rest of his life if it meant Hinata would keep smiling.

Hinata noticed her friend's sudden shift in mood. "Whats wrong, Naruto-kun?" she asked, her eyes narrowing in concern.

Naruto immediately masked his sadness with his usual cocky smile. "It's nothing Hinata-chan! Just thinking how I'ma bail you out!" he lied.

Hinata frowned slightly. Naruto rarely lied to her and she knew every time he did. She would have asked him what was really wrong but it was almost as if his eyes were begging her not too.

Hinata wanted to sigh again but she respected her friend's privacy.

"I'm sure it will be elaborate and hilarious...by the way, you never told me what Kakashi-sensei wanted to talk to you about!" she said, switching topics, thinking that it was the topic that was depressing Naruto. Though, she had no idea why it would.

"Not much...only that he's my unofficial older brother that looked out for me since birth. Oh, and he's the guy that gave us the scrolls," Naruto said in a casual tone as he gazed upwards.

3

2

1

"WHAT?!" Hinata yelled loudly, for her at least. "How did you not lead with that?!" she continued before poking him lightly in the shoulder. "Why didn't you say something earlier? That's way more important than my father trying to set me up with some noble!"

Naruto shrugged as he rubbed his shoulder. He didn't need to express it in words but as far as he was concerned, Hinata's problems always came first.

"I dunno. Slipped my mind I guess," he said lamely as he threw his arms behind his head to support his still horizontal head.

Hinata's gaze softened and she looked incredibly sad.

It was moments when Naruto was like this that she hated. While she was thankful for the fact that he put her first before anything and everything, she wished he would put himself first sometimes. It made her feel like a terrible friend when he had just received life altering news but he kept it hidden so she could complain about her dysfunctional family! She tried to be a supporting friend, like he was to her, but when he refused to show her his problems, she couldn't help but feel like she was taking advantage of Naruto.

He did everything he could for her and she could do so little in return for him.

"Its almost time!" Naruto's voice said, breaking her from her from her depressed thoughts.

Hinata's attention went to the village as the sun began to dip bellow the village wall. Hinata and Naruto shared a grin as they began to count down.

"5" Naruto began.

"4" Hinata continued.

"3"

"2"

"1!" as Naruto said the final number the sun dipped bellow the village wall, the exact moment the number left Naruto's mouth.

The village was plunged into a moment of darkness.

"Banzai!" both Naruto and Hinata yelled as they jumped up from their seat, sending the ice cream and spoons flying.

Like with the sun, the village lit back up in a breathtaking mixture of colored lights the moment the word left their lips.

Naruto and Hinata both shared a laugh as they grinned at each other like fools before settling back down and began discussing what Kakashi and Naruto talked about.

However, when they sat down, they sat a bit closer than they were before.

Neither of them minded.

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter but I may have some bad news for you. I write this story on my school computer and the year is ending and that means I have to give back this computer.**

**So it may be almost two months until the next update.**

**I may be buying a computer so I may be worrying you needlessly but I thought you should get a heads up so you won't think I'm abandoning this story incase I don't.**

**Let me repeat that; I AM NOT ABANDONING THE STORY!**

**P.S.-I'm trying to squeeze in one more update before the years over.**


	7. Chapter 7

Naruto dropped his paint brush into the bucket with an annoyed sigh. "I really hate chores," he stated to his teammates behind him.

Kiba grunted as he started to peal off dried paint that more or less covered him and Akamaru yipped in response from his position on top Kiba's head. Hinata nodded silently as she made sure that she hadn't got any paint on her.

"Just ten more until you get a C rank," Kakashi said from his comfortable spot on a picnic table while reading his book.

It had been almost a week since team seven had been formed and started taking the ninja world by storm. In the past week they had accomplished over 15 D ranks. They did two a day, sometimes three, so they were ahead of their fellow graduates who only had around 4 or 5 done.

Kakashi had decided that teamwork exercises wouldn't be necessary for the green genin. The teamwork between Hinata and Naruto was almost flawless; the only real problem they had with it was when Kiba challenged Naruto for the right to lead the fellow genin. Kakashi was still the leader of course, but every team typically had a genin that acted as a leader for his fellow squad mates in trivial tasks or when their jounin instructor was indisposed.

Naruto had ignored the challenge's but Kiba wouldn't press the issue because he thought Hinata would get mad at him for beating up her friend. Kiba still struggled for the position of team leader but he didn't let it get to him while on "missions" so their teamwork was stable. It could be improved of course, but the best way to deepen their bond was through overcoming challenges together.

Which is why Kakashi was blowing through to the minimum amount of 25 D ranked missions so his team could start applying for a C ranked missions.

The three of them were miles a head of their fellow graduates already and the distance was only furthering as Kakashi would turn the meaningless chores into training situations.

Today's simulation was dodging enemy "kunais," which were actually thin paint brushes dipped in paint, while they were focusing on the task of painting a civilians fence.

Kiba, as mentioned before, was hit a few times but was still passable. Hinata had turned out to be spotless due to her Kekkei Genkai and Naruto only had one spot on his forearm where he had shoved Kiba to avoid a paint brush hitting Akamaru.

Akamaru now viewed Naruto as one of his favorite people.

"Why do we have to do these lame mock missions Kakashi-sensei? Everyone knows that we're too badass for 'em!" Kiba whined, Akamaru barking his support for his master.

"Because we're very fresh genin, Kibbles. Would some princess really trust us to protect her if we've only been genin for less than a week?" Naruto answered wisely as he took a seat at the picnic table.

Kiba grumbled about the unfairness of it all but didn't argue because he knew Naruto had a point. He had long gotten used to Naruto's nickname for him; he just prayed to kami that neither his sister or mother ever go word of it. The only way to alleviate that level of embarrassment would be to commit seppuku.

Hinata giggled before sitting down as well along with Kiba. They were waiting for their client to bring their pay for a job well done.

"So what are we doing after this sensei? Training or another lousy D rank?" Kiba asked as he sat down.

"I have a bit of a treat for you three today. We're having a group sparing match with the other rookie genin!" Kakashi informed. It had been the day after the true genin test that it had been decided that they would pit their cute genin against each other.

**Flashback**

Kakashi, Kurenai and Asuma all stood in the Hokage's office since their teams were the only ones that passed.

The Hokage repressed a sigh at the fact only three teams had passed this year. He was seriously considering strapping a few jounin and special jounin with reserved genin to simply bolster Kohona's numbers. Their numbers had taken a major blow thirteen years ago by the Kyuubi attack and since then their intake of shinobi had dwindled further by failed graduates and work deaths.

_'Is it a problem with the academy? Are they not preparing the next generation well enough?' _Hiruzen silently asked himself, unknowingly hitting the nail right on the head. However, he shelved his thoughts aside and focused on the meeting he was currently in.

"Asuma, begin your report." He commanded.

Asuma nodded, "My three passed easily enough. Their goal was to pin me down long enough to draw blood and they succeeded at the two hour mark.

"Ino is the definite leader of the three. She's loud, brash, and a fan girl," he said with a sigh. It was going to take a lot of work to break her out of that mentality. "Although, she can focus on the task before her when needed. Her skills are decent enough I guess. She's moderate at stealth, her accuracy is moderate, and her jutsu are limited to her Mind Transfer jutsu."

"Chouji is quiet, nice, and sensitive. He's a follower and does pretty much what the other two tell him to do. If I'm being honest; he's not cut out for the shinobi life.

"They would have had me at the hour mark but Chouji had refused to strike me. He said he didn't like hurting others. That's a major problem in our line of work. His skills are moderate from the academy reports, I can't verify them because Chouji wasn't used for stealth. He can use one of his clan jutsu's but can expand his body at will."

"Shikamaru is lazy, un-energetic but brilliant. Like Chouji, he's a follower but he can take the lead when needed. He's a strategist and I know for a fact that the academy test scores do not reflect his true abilities. However, as I said before, he's incredibly lazy and anything involving actual work is "troublesome." He can use one of his clan's jutsus but I think he may be able to learn a few more if I can get some motivation in the kid." Asuma finished his report with a small sigh. These kids were going to take a lot of work to be whipped into shape and that meant more work for him.

Hiruzen repressed a disappointed sigh. Even the few that passed were not ideal shinobi by any means. However, he motioned for Kurenai to begin her report with hopes that her team would be better.

Kurenai nodded and began, already dashing the Hokage's hopes. "My team passed but barely. Their goal was to track me down and capture me, they succeed but it was more luck than skill.

"Sasuke Uchiha is a one man show. He doesn't work well with others and believes that he shouldn't even bother because they would only hold him back.

"He rushed me head on, even though he currently has little to no tracking abilities, and left the other two behind and ignored them for most of the test. He's strong for a genin though, I'll give him that.

"I had stopped once and engaged him in a light taijutsu match and he seemed very adept his family style. He also managed to use Fire release: Grand Fireball jutsu and was barely winded afterward. He'll make for a great heavy hitter for the team once we awaken his sharingan and gets a few more jutsu under his belt.

"Sakura Haruno is very much like Ino without the ability to focus on the mission. She abandoned Shino to chase after Sasuke. Her skills are abysmal; despite having a high aptitude for chakra control and genjutsu, I took her out of commission with ease when I used a D ranked genjutsu," she said with a sigh. She thought that Sakura would be at a much higher level than what she was since she was next in line for kunoichi of the year but it seemed she only was because of her book smarts.

"Shino is antisocial but isn't a one man show like Sasuke. He attempted to get them to work together in the beginning but since Sasuke thought he was going to slow him down and Sakura following his lead, it met no success.

"Shino is calm and logical and already has ability as a tracker thanks to his bugs. As far as I know, he can't use any jutsu due to his bugs feeding off his chakra network but he is definitely a long ranged fighter.

The only reason they passed was because of Shino. Sasuke realized that he couldn't track me on his own when I eluded him after our encounter so he used Shino to track me and the two temporarily teamed up to capture me. Sakura was still unconscious," Kurenai finished. Like Asuma, she knew she was going to have her work cut out for her.

Kakashi suppressed breaking into a full blown eye smile as he began his report. "My cute little genin were excellent! I almost had to go all out on the brats!" he beamed, causing the other two jounin present to look at him like he was insane.

"You're not joking," Asuma observed in a surprised tone.

"No, I'm not. The little brats nearly killed me." He thought of a spiraling ball in the hand of a chakra hand aimed at his stomach and shuddered. "A couple of times."

Kurenai wasn't believing it. Kakashi was one of the strongest ninja of the village: he made genin at five, chunin at six, and jounin at twelve. There was simply no way that three genin could possibly take him on and force him to go all out on them!

Kakashi saw the disbelief written all over Kurenai's face and decided to explain further. "As you all know, my test focuses on teamwork and they passed with flying colors.

"Kiba is hot headed, defiant, and seems to have a habit of rushing in, but due to his pack instincts he's able to take orders. Though, he may just be following instructions because he has a crush on Hinata," he added thoughtfully. He didn't think that the crush would last too long though. Kurenai's eyebrow twitched at the mention of Hinata. Not only was she still miffed that she wasn't on her team but she didn't view Kiba worthy of her sister.

"He's strong for a genin though, maybe high genin or low chunin in taijutsu, and can use several of his clan's techniques. He didn't really get to use them but I hear he has an excellent nose that can be used for tracking.

"Hinata is soft spoken and maybe a bit shy but in combat she is calm, confident, and a tad ruthless. She turned several poor logs into pincushions with those senbon of hers.

"She demonstrated the chakra control that the Hyuga are known for when she displayed water walking and has terrifying accuracy; she managed to hit my Tenketsu with her senbon and I'm guessing that she has a few more tricks up her sleeve. As a side note, she works incredibly well with Naruto.

"Naruto is a bit antagonistic to Kiba but when he's with Hinata he's kind, compassionate, and loyal to a fault. He seems to push away everyone that's not Hinata but I'm hoping that I can work on that and get him to open up to his fellow squad mates." What Kakashi really meant was, _'I hope he doesn't reject me from his life.'_

"He's defiantly not at genin level from what I saw-"

Kurenai suppressed a smug smile at that. She didn't particularly care for Naruto despite Hinata's pleas. It wasn't anything personal but she saw him as an annoyance that would only bring Hinata down. She knew he wasn't the dead last he appeared to be, but she didn't put him any higher than the middle of the class.

Hinata was the heiress of an important clan and more importantly her little sister. She only wanted the best for Hinata and Naruto simply wasn't the best.

"He's much closer to jounin level, and I haven't even seen a third of his tricks yet. He only really used one jutsu and that was an improved version of the Rasengan," Kakashi stated.

3

2

1

"What? What in the hell do you mean Naruto's at jounin level?!" Kurenai practically yelled.

"I'm not saying that he's an SS ranked shinobi or anything but he's defiantly in the high B rank to high A rank, if I'm guessing correctly. Like I said, I haven't really seen any of his tricks so he could have something special hidden in his metaphorical sleeve," Kakashi laminated.

Hiruzen puffed on his pipe, pleased that there was at least one good team out of the bunch. He was even more so when he heard about Naruto.

"A variation of the Rasengan you say? How did he improve it?" Hiruzen asked. He knew Naruto hadn't added an element yet. The entire village would surely have noticed such a jutsu from the training grounds. Minato had theorized that the finished product of the Rasengan would be an S ranked jutsu easily. If he had used it, the entire village would have known.

"He turned it into a long ranged attack; nearly hit me with it too...I should probably talk to him about that," he added as an after thought. A jutsu like that should never be used on a comrade!

Hiruzen seemed pleased by this. A long range Rasengan was actually one of the variations that his late successor had attempted to make but hadn't been able to figure out.

Asuma seemed thoughtful. He had been a jounin far longer than Kurenai and had seen kids half Naruto's age be stronger than him so he was much more open minded. Was it really true though? Did Naruto really improve one of the Yondaime's legendary techniques? If so, then Kakashi was right. Naruto was miles ahead of being a mere genin.

"You believe him Asuma?" Kurenai asked as she saw the thoughtful look on his face. However, before he had a chance to answer and risk pissing her off, Kakashi interrupted.

"Is it really so hard to believe?" Kakashi asked rhetorically, not only did he feel a bit insulted that she thought he was lying but she was also doubting Naruto's skills. That bothered him.

"Yes! It is hard to believe! He's been the dead last since he joined the academy! I know he's been holding back but saying that he's been holding back the skills of a jounin is ludicrous!" she responded and earned an annoyed one eyed glare from Kakashi.

"Naruto has single handily pranked everyone in this village, myself included. He's made a fool out of ANBU, jounin, chunin, genin, and civilian in this village. Are you really putting it past him to hold back his skills to end up on a team with Hinata?" Kakashi asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

Kurenai's eyebrow twitched again in annoyance. "I won't believe it until I see it," she refuted flatly.

"Then how about our cute little genin have a spar? Team verses team," Kakashi offered but Kurenai was already shaking her head no.

"Not team verses team. It doesn't matter if you're telling the truth about Naruto, but my team is a mess right now. He could be the dead last and you'd still probably win because of Hinata and Kiba."

"How about genin verses genin? That way we can accurately measure their skills against each other."

She turned to Asuma. "Do you want in? It could be good for Chouji to spar," she asked.

Asuma hesitated for a moment before agreeing. "Sounds fine to me."

Kurenai smirked. "We'll do it at the end of the week. That way it gives both of us a little time to get a little training in and learn our genin's strengths."

"You're taking command of what was my idea, but sure," Kakashi said flippantly before turning to the Hokage. "Will that be all Hokage-sama?" Hiruzen sighed and nodded, feeling a little ignored.

"That'll be all. You're dismissed."

**Flashback end**

Kiba started to cheer after Kakashi told them the details of the match. Basically it would be like the ones they had in the academy but this would be the first one as shinobi, so Kiba was incredibly excited.

Hinata was also sporting a small grin, she was looking forward to seeing how far her fellow classmates had come since they joined the shinobi forces.

Naruto's face was impassive but on the inside he was looking forward to crushing a certain teme since he no longer had to hold back.

"Calm down Kiba. You'll wear yourself out," Naruto said as he rested his head on the table. His neck was beginning to cramp up from looking at the skies so he was stretching it out.

Kiba scoffed but sat down all the same.

Moments later they were joined by their client. He was an old and weathered man and you could tell he had been a farmer for most of his life.

"Ahh! You three did a great job, a bit odd with all the throwing paint brushes at each other an all, but it worked! Here's your pay!" he said in a grandfatherly voice as he handed Kakashi small stack of bills. "Try not to spend it all in one place!" he called out to them as he returned to his home a few yards away.

Naruto eyed the bills and bit back a sigh. Unlike higher ranked missions, the shinobi that completed the missions received payment directly from the client.

They simply got paid so little that it wasn't worth the hassle of going through a middle man.

_'That's barely enough for five bowls of ramen!' _he mentally whined. If he didn't start getting decent pay sometime soon he'd either have to resort to stealing again or cannibalism. It could really go either way.

He took his meager pay with grumbling but was surprised when he saw Hinata handed him her stack of bills. Maybe surprised wasn't the best word because this wasn't the first time she offered her pay to him.

He gave her a good-natured grin. "You keep it Hinata-chan. I'm okay!" he lied. Anyone who was considering cannibalism was defiantly not okay.

However, Hinata didn't withdraw the bills but put a concerned yet stern look. "You're not okay, Naruto-kun. I can hear your stomach grumbling. I'm a clan heiress. I don't need it nearly as much as you do," she said with a you're-taking-the-money-and-you're-going-to-like-i t tone.

Naruto looked down at the bills then back up at Hinata before sighing. "Are you sure, Hinata-chan? I know you don't like using your clan's money to buy things," Naruto asked and got a smile and a nod in return.

Naruto took the bills with an embarrassed blush as Hinata smiled at him.

They didn't even notice Kiba watching the little exchange with great interest, a conflicted look upon his face.

**Later at training ground seven**

Team seven walked to their training ground and were surprised to see that the other two teams were already there...well, except for Kakashi.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Ino roared, "WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR TWO HOURS!" Sakura yelled with her friend.

"Oh? Sorry. The road of life has many twist and turns...we just got lost I guess."

Naruto looked immensely pleased with himself for beating Kakashi to the punch. As the two jounin present glared bloody murder at Kakashi, Kakashi gave Naruto a pat on the head. "I'm an amazing sensei," he congratulated himself.

After they all settled down, Asuma looked at his fellow jounin. "So how are we going to do this?" he asked.

Kakashi seemed to think about it for a moment. "I dunno, picking numbers? Let them choose their opponents?" he asked himself aloud.

He glanced down and saw that was the popular reaction among the group. Ino glared at Sakura, who surprisingly, was ignoring her. Kiba and Sasuke both shot a look over at Naruto, who was staring up at the clouds with Shikamaru, neither of them listening.

_'Hmmm. Maybe we should let the rivals duke it out now so it won't cause problems down the road,' _Kakashi thought as he sent a questioning glance at his comrades. Asuma and Kurenai shared a look before nodding, both thinking along the same lines as Kakashi.

"Okay, here's how it'll be:

"Sakura Vs. Ino

"Hinata VS. Chouji

"Shikamaru VS. Shino

"Naruto VS. Kiba and Sasuke in a handicap match," Kakashi said, picking the match to prove his point that Naruto was way above genin level.

Ino shot Sakura a cocky smirk. "You ready to lose?" she mocked, but to her annoyance Sakura ignored her and walked towards a small clearing that would act as the battlefield.

Everyone else watched in idle curiosity. They expected some long drawn out slug match that honestly gave kunoichi a bad name.

Asuma acted as the proctor of the match. He looked at both parties. "Are you two ready?" he asked and got nods in return. "Begin!" he said as he jumped back.

Sakura started off by throwing a barrage of shuriken and kunai at her long time rival.

Ino was startled by the show of ruthlessness but managed to dodge in time without taking a hit. "Is that all you got billboard-" Ino would have insulted further but the sounds of horrified screams cut her off.

Ino whipped around and saw what had caused the screams. Ino could only gape as her mind slowly processed what she was seeing.

Directly where she had dodged the barrage of shuriken and kunai was Sasuke...a bloodied and dying Sasuke.

Ino suddenly took off running towards Sasuke and the group that surrounded him, all murmuring to each other about what they should do.

"No...No this can't be happening!" Ino yelled to her fallen love, crouching down and crying over his wounded form. Tears flowed out of her eyes as she tried to stop the bleeding but it was to no avail, her attention snapped up to those around her. "GET HELP! DO SOMETHING!" she screamed and would have continued if it wasn't for Sasuke weakly reaching up and brushing away a tear.

"Ino...I (cough cough) have something...I have to tell you..." he said weakly spitting blood up with every word.

Ino's eyes blurred with more tears as she leaned down for Sasuke was too weak to make himself clear. Her ear hovered over his mouth and she felt his hot breath tickle her ear as he said, "I...win Ino-pig!" "Sasuke" said victoriously, sounding exactly like Sakura.

It was at that moment the genjutsu broke and Ino realized she was kneeling over nothing and had Sakura's kunai at her throat.

"W-what?" Ino asked in confusion

Sakura smirked at her. "I placed you in a genjutsu that showed you your worst fear," she answered simply and removed her kunai as Asuma called her the victor of the match.

Everyone except her team were dumbfounded at the incredibly quick match; it had been the exact opposite of what they had been expecting!

"Wow! Who would have thought Sakura would be able to win that quick?!" Kiba said excitedly. While he was a bit disappointed he didn't get to see a cat fight between two pretty girls, he was impressed that Sakura had managed to beat Ino while barely lifting a finger.

"Hmmm...that was almost an instant win...when did Sakura get even more troublesome?" Shikamaru wondered aloud.

Sakura beamed happiness for she had just beaten her long time rival and ran happily to her team, completely ignoring Ino who was both insulting her and saying that this wasn't over.

Everyone jaws nearly dropped as Sakura completely brushed past Sasuke and stopped in front of her sensei. "How did I do, Kurenai-sensei?" she asked, her tone much like a child showing a parent something they had done.

Kurenai smiled at Sakura. "Excellent, Sakura! You're finally owning up to your potential!" she said with true pride in her voice.

Kurenai was glad her talk with Sakura had sunken in.

**Flashback **

Kurenai looked at her genin and bit back a frustrated sigh. The kids were great on paper but in truth they were two lone wolves and a fangirl. Not the best formula for a team.

"You can all go except for you Sakura," she said as she pinched the bridge of her nose. She was going to cut this fangirl habit of Sakura's off here and now.

Sasuke and Shino both nodded before walking away. Once they were some distance away, Sakura looked up at her sensei with an uncertain expression. She didn't think she did anything bad enough to get held back so she asked, "Did I do something wrong sensei?" just to be sure.

"Sakura...why did you become a shinobi?" Kurenai asked in a serious tone.

The question threw Sakura off. "W-Why I became a shinobi? Because my dad was one before the Kyuubi killed him...I wanted to honor him I guess," she answered, unsureness in her tone plain as day.

Kurenai nodded. She thought the girl had became a shinobi to impress Sasuke.

"Thats a decent reason...but do you really think you're honoring him with the way you're acting?" she demanded, shocking Sakura.

"With the way I'm acting? What are you talking about, sensei?" Sakura asked, her tone taking an angry edge because she felt insulted.

"I'm talking about your fangirl bullshit Sakura. Do you really think you're honoring your father completely ignoring your training to impress Sasuke with your figure? Do you think you honor your father by dieting and starving yourself when you should be eating twice as much as a civilian? Do you even know what it means to be a kunoichi?!" Kurenai was practically yelling at the end but before Sakura retort angrily, Kurenai sighed in extreme frustration.

"Sakura, do you know why there are only a third as many female ninja?" Kurenai asked in a very serious tone. Kurenai was going to stop at nothing to change Sakura's actions.

Sakura's angry retort dried up in her mouth. "Because sexual related crimes are more common against women than they are against men in the field," she recited from memory. It was common knowledge for all kunoichi to know.

Kurenai nodded. "Thats exactly what the text book says. Now, knowing that, why haven't you taken necessary precautions to ensure that doesn't happen to you?" she asked, no anger in her voice. Just curiosity and disappointment.

Sakura floundered for a moment before quickly finding her answer. "Because Sasuke-kun will save me," She stated firmly, like it was a fact.

Kurenai rose an eyebrow. "Sasuke will save you," she asked and received a nod. "100% of the time?" Another nod.

Before Sakura could even react or put up a defense, Kurenai had firmly taken the nipple of her right breast, some how finding it through her shirt and bra, in between the fingernails of her thumb and pointer finger and gave a savage pinch.

Sakura screamed out in surprise more than pain. "Sensei?! What are you doing, LET ME GO!" she yelled out trying to push away Kurenai's hand but her grip was like iron and she was beginning to squeeze tighter.

Kurenai didn't like the fact that she was having to do this. She took no pride nor pleasure from harming her student but it was better a little pain than her ending up either dead or as a sex toy for an enemy ninja.

"Why am I doing this? The better question is: where is he?" Kurenai said as she applied more pressure. Sakura had stopped struggling at this point. It seemed the harder she fought to get away the harder her sensei pinched. She could only grit her teeth at the intense pain in her breast.

"What?" Sakura asked, her voice thick with emotion as angry and confused tears sprung in her eyes.

"You said Sasuke would save you 100% of the time, so where is he?" Kurenai asked again.

Realization crashed on Sakura as Kurenai continued. "He's not coming Sakura and you're helpless. If I was an enemy shinobi, I would be doing a lot more than pinching your nipple. If I was an enemy shinobi, I'd be violating you. If I was an enemy shinobi, I'd be passing you around to my friends as we mercilessly violated you in unimaginably horrifying ways!" Kurenai said, steadily adding pressure to get her point across. Her nails were almost touching at this point and Sakura was barely containing a scream.

Sakura was crying freely now. Not only because of the sharp pain in her breast, but she knew what Kurenai was about to say.

"And you would be completely at our mercy! Because you chose to diet and skip physical training, your body is weak. Because you decided to waste your time ogling some boy, you didn't develop any sort of skill to defend yourself!"

Kurenai dropped her hand and Sakura dropped to her knees crying as she massaged her abused breast.

Kurenai sighed sadly and gently rubbed Sakura's shoulder. "Sakura... You have amazing potential! With your chakra control you could make an amazing medical ninja or you could be a genjutsu specialist, like I am, but don't waste all that talent so you can fail to impress some boy! He's not worth it; no boy is," Kurenai said in a reassuring tone, calming her upset student. She felt terrible for having to do that, but it was to protect her in the long run.

Sakura was silent for a long time after her sobs had ceased. She felt like she had spat on her father's grave.

How had she let her crush on Sasuke get in the way of her original goal? How had she veered so far off the path she had wanted to walk? She meant to be a shinobi first and try to impress Sasuke with her skills but she knew that she didn't have any skills to speak of. She had blown off the entire physical aspect of being a shinobi so she could ogle Sasuke!

It was half an hour later before Sakura had managed to calm herself. "Sensei...can you teach me genjutsu?" she asked, determined to make up for lost time and if that meant sacrificing her crush for Sasuke than so be it. She was a shinobi first and she had to learn to protect herself or what Kurenai just described would end up happening to her.

Kurenai smiled, "Of course, be here an hour early for your first lesson."

**End Flashback**

As everyone congratulated Sakura on her win, even Sasuke gave a hn of approval, Hinata and Chouji headed to the small field.

As the two faced off, Hinata smiled lightly at Chouji's obvious hesitance. "You don't have to be afraid of hurting me Chouji," she said in a reassuring tone.

It didn't have much of an effect on Chouji's nerves. "But I could though! I don't want to hurt my friends," he stated, feeling conflicted. While Asuma-sensei had said that if you spar with your friends it would help them and yourself get stronger but Chouji had difficulty actually overcoming the entire hit your friends part.

"Chouji, you won't hurt me. I've been training with Naruto-kun a very long time and he's very strong! So don't hold back, okay?" she said with a kind smile as she got in one of her stances.

Chouji hesitated and Asuma decided to offer a reward. "Chouji, if you give this match your all, I'll buy you an all you can eat buffet at your choice of restaurant."

"Now, Begin!" he said as he jumped back.

For a moment nothing happened, then surprisingly, Chouji jumped into action. "**Expansion Jutsu**!" he yelled as he suddenly bloated into a large ball.

Hinata immediately jumped back several feet to give her room to dodge what would happen next.

"**Human Bullet Tank**!" Were the words that followed soon after as Chouji began to spin before shooting off.

Hinata jumped high into the air, senbon in between each knuckle and her Dojutsu activated, to avoid Chouji. Hinata threw her senbon, thinking that he would be forced to stop spinning if he had a few senbon sticking out of him, but, much to her surprise, Chouji was spinning so fast that the needles just bounced off of him.

Hinata's eyes narrowed as she gracefully fell back to earth, already thinking of a few different strategies.

Chouji pulled an impressive turn and charged Hinata again like a raging bull, however, Hinata was already prepared.

Surprising everyone except for Naruto, she jumped forward and in midair turned around and began to throw several volleys of seemingly never ending senbon.

...

"What's she doing? She's going to get crushed!" Kiba yelled, worried about his crush. Everyone heard the sound of Naruto scoffing. "What the heck is your problem? Aren't you worried that Hinata-chan's going to get hurt?!" Kiba demanded.

Naruto sighed again. "Do you really have so little faith in Hinata-chan? Chouji won't lay a finger on her," he said, pointing at the match telling him to watch it.

...

Hinata landed and turned back around mere moments before Chouji was on his way to crush her, though he was trying to slow down. Smirking to herself, Hinata dodged to the left by taking two graceful steps. It didn't even look like she was dodging, more like she was dancing as a ballerina.

...

The younger females felt a stab of jealousy at Hinata and Kiba commented, "Wow...Hinata-chan sure is flexible..." with a perverted blush on the bridge of his nose. Even though he was only twelve, he was going through puberty and that meant perverted thoughts about girls.

The sound of cracking knuckles came from behind him and Kiba turned around and saw Naruto cracking his knuckles and giving his squad mate a glare that promised death. "Continue that line of thought and I'll neuter you, dog breath."

Kiba gulped loudly before turning around while sweating bullets. Everyone chuckling at his expense.

...

Chouji raced by Hinata, though he was still trying to slow down, and directly towards the trap she had laid out. Even though Chouji was spinning rapidly, he could still catch glimpses of the senbon stick out of the ground and were aimed at him. While Chouji could repel things like senbon when he was spinning so fast that they just bounced off of him, he didn't think he would be able to avoid being impaled by the needles if he rolled over them.

So, naturally, when he came too close he disabled his Expansion jutsu and flew over the needles.

Chouji landed on his face, the bystanders winced on his behalf, and kept tumbling until he come to a complete stop almost 30 yards from where he had ceased the jutsu.

"Owww...!" Chouji said, cupping his injured face as he struggled to stand due to the number of small injuries that now covered his body.

"You okay Chouji?" Asuma asked, feeling proud that he had taken the initiative but also thinking that Chouji should probably quit while he was ahead.

"Yeah...I'm fine," Chouji said as he once again took up a fighting stance, thinking that he was going to eat Asuma-sensei broke after this match.

"Do you wish to continue?" Hinata asked as she approached.

Chouji thought about it for a moment then shook his head no. After spending years with Shikamaru, his smarts and foresight had kinda rubbed off on him. Chouji knew that the Human Bullet Tank jutsu was really the only ace he had and Hinata had countered it. He only knew the academy jutsu other than his clan's and those wouldn't help him so he had no choice but to quit since he had nothing else to throw at Hinata.

Hinata smiled at him. "You did very well, Chouji! Now let me take care of your wounds," she said as she helped sit Chouji down and with a glowing green hand she began to go over Chouji's body and healed his minor wounds.

Asuma was impressed as was Kakashi, though the latter expected that Hinata had practiced in medicine considering her words on the lake.

_'So apparently Kakashi got an A ranked genin and a medic-nin?' _he thought in surprise but quickly turned sullen. _'Some guys just get all the luck!' _he thought, looking at his mess of a team. Granted, it had only been a week but Asuma knew it was going to take a lot of work to get his three in order.

_'Maybe I'll do whatever Kurenai did to straiten up Sakura. I'll ask her when this is over.'_

After Hinata was declared the winner and healed Chouji, Shikamaru and Shino headed out to the field while Hinata and Chouji came back.

"You did great, Hinata-chan! I knew you could do it!" Kiba said with a broad smile but Hinata could see Naruto mouthing that Kiba was lying behind his back.

"Thank you, Kiba," she said politely before taking a seat by Naruto who was more or less saying the same thing.

Kiba watched the little display and felt jealousy surge in his chest. _'I'll show the teme who's top dog around here!' _he thought as he turned to watch Shikamaru and Shino's match.

Asuma looked between the two boys, one of which was yawning and the other standing there, waiting for the match to begin.

Asuma sighed. He had a very good idea of how this was going to play out. "Begin!" he said but didn't even bother to jump back.

Only half a second later the words, "I forfeit," were heard from our favorite Nara.

Everyone except the few that saw that coming; Asuma, Kakashi and Naruto, face vaulted.

"That lazy son of a..." Ino growled in frustration that her teammate could be so lazy that he would actually forfeit a match so he wouldn't have to fight but also the fact that he was also on her team. Sakura nodded in agreement with her friend.

"That's it?! They didn't even fight!" Kiba roared angrily, he had been interested to see how that fight would turn out. They were both long range fighters but he wanted to see which clan technique was the better one.

"Wow...Asuma was right, that kid lives up to his clan's reputation," Kurenai commented to her self.

"I didn't know Shikamaru was _that_ lazy..." Hinata mumbled to herself but her friend heard her.

"It's not just because he's incredibly lazy that he quit," Naruto said, causing a few around him to give him puzzled looks.

"Oh, you noticed too?" Kakashi said in a tone like he was sharing a secret.

"Notice what, sensei?" Kiba asked, wondering just what in the heck they were talking about.

Kakashi just pointed at Shikamaru, signaling that they should pay attention to what he had to say in his defense.

...

Asuma sighed. "Really Shikamaru?" he asked in an exasperated tone. He had been expecting that but it didn't make it any less annoying.

Shikamaru sighed as he also saw the dirty look he was getting from Shino as well, even though most of his face was covered. "How troublesome...I would have lost in the end no matter what so why bother wasting all that time?" Shikamaru answered.

Shino rose an eyebrow, while he fully understood the logic behind Shikamaru's actions, he wanted to hear his reasons.

"Shino and I are both long range fighters, however, our styles are very different. My Shadow Binding jutsu can hold Shino down, and maybe I could force him to surrender, though the odds of that are unlikely, but I cannot bind every single Kikaichu inside of him. He could easily send out a swarm as I held him down, since they respond to his will, and suck me dry of chakra," Shikamaru laminated.

Shino nodded. That had been his strategy since he found out who he would be fighting.

Asuma sighed. "Victory goes to Shino," he announced, feeling embarrassed that every member of his team had lost.

As Shino and Shikamaru rejoined he group, everyone congratulated Shino on his win and laughed when Ino began to verbally tear Shikamaru a new one. He tried to explain his logic but it did not work so he simply stood there listening to his teammates yelling while mumbling about troublesome blondes.

However, two genin were ignoring them as they made their way to the center of the clearing along side Naruto, who seemed completely fine with fighting two opponents. Both genin were thinking among the same lines, but for different reasons.

_'I can't wait to crush Naruto-teme! Once I do Hinata-chan, will see he's a total loser and go out with me!' _Kiba thought excitedly, showing that he knew absolutely nothing about the opposite gender.

_'Finally, I get to fight you again, Naruto. You better stop holding back so I can crush you and prove that I am superior,' _Sasuke thought as he remembered the first time Naruto had thrown a match.

**Flashback**

Sasuke stood in the middle of the circle, the teachers finally letting him spar again. It had been almost a month since Naruto had broken his arm and the talk with his older brother.

Many were surprised at the changes in the boy's behavior in such a short time; it was almost as if he was a different child.

His arrogance had been cut down by a major degree. It was still there and occasionally surfaced but those time were few. Sasuke smiled more, was kinder and even made a few "friends."

He no longer mocked others for being inferior but he did pick on some kids: Naruto, Hinata, and Shino. Though, what he now made fun of them for was vastly different. He still maintained a bit of his bully nature but that was a mix between his superiority complex as well as his inferiority complex.

Naruto walked into the center of the ring, looking completely apathetic to what was going on but on in the inside he was screaming at the injustice of what he was about to do.

Iruka looked between the two children. "Make the symbol showing that you wish to spar," he commanded and the two children followed.

_'This time I'll win.'_

_'It's to protect Hinata-chan. I have to suck it up!'_

"Begin!"

Sasuke and Naruto meet in the middle in a clash of blows, however, Naruto seemed sluggish compared to his previous fight with the Uchiha.

To Naruto, it seemed like Sasuke was moving in slow motion. His movements were so predictable he honestly felt like he could win blindfolded. It was actually hard to lose!

Naruto put up a sluggish arm to block a punch as he made eye contact with a puzzled and absolutely furious six year old Sasuke. Sasuke could easily tell that Naruto was holding back and that pissed him off! This was the kid that broke his arm with ease! Why was he suddenly slow?

Naruto let a punch hit him in the chin and took a few steps back, his heel only a foot or two away from the line.

Sasuke snarled as he let loose a number of punches and kicks. Naruto played the panicked fool and tumbled out of the ring and landed on his butt. That caused everyone to laugh except for Hinata, who was completely perplexed as to why Naruto let himself lose.

"Winner Sasuke Uchiha!" Iruka called out, wondering the same as Hinata.

Sasuke's fan girls went wild as they complemented how Sasuke had done and hurled insults at Naruto, saying the usual and how he had cheated last time they fought.

"Now make the harmony symbol," Iruka instructed.

Naruto got up, feeling like a total fool but glad he had kept Hinata safe, and walked towards Sasuke while offering a hand with two fingers pointing out for him to shake. However, Sasuke had other plans.

Sasuke slapped Naruto's hand away. "What's your problem?! Why did you let me win?!" Sasuke roared, feeling insulted.

Naruto glared but did not respond. If he did open his mouth a series of impressive profanities would make their way out of his mouth.

"Sasuke, that's enough! Make the Harmony symbol," Iruka instructed again.

Sasuke ground his teeth as he held out his hand and interlocked fingers with Naruto who began to squeeze them as hard as he could. Sasuke winced but began to squeeze back, vowing to find out why Naruto held back.

**End Flashback**

The three faced off in the clearing, a gentle breeze rustling their hair.

Sasuke turned to Kiba. "Stay out of my way, mutt. This fight is between me and him," he said as he sent a glare to enforce it.

Kiba scoffed as he set Akamaru down. "As if, teme. You're mine!" he responded with an angry growl.

Naruto sighed. "It's really tough being this handsome...I have all the beautiful women and apparently men fighting over me!" he said dramatically, enraging them both.

"Shut up, idiot! I'm not gay!" Kiba roared, easily letting Naruto's words get to him. Sasuke however tsked. "I want to fight you one on one so I can prove that I'm stronger than you are and so you can't use the excuse it was two on one when I crush you," he stated flatly.

Naruto chuckled. "Oh? You're going to crush me? You seem to be forgetting the fact you've won every fight we've had since we were kids because I allowed you to, right?" he asked in a mocking tone.

However, it wasn't like the friendly mocking tone he used with Kiba. No, this was the type of mocking you used on someone you loathed. It was filled with contempt and dripping with anger.

Sasuke grunted. "That was then. I'm going to win because I train harder than you do and that makes me stronger than you," Sasuke said in a matter of fact tone.

Naruto barked a laugh. "So you train harder than I do, eh? I thought training would be below your _noble _blood?" he mocked, sneering at the word noble.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, wanting to go off on Naruto for insulting his clan but chose to answer is question instead. "No. Before Itachi went insane he was right that hard work pays off more than talent and I work harder than anyone to achieve my ambition. That's why you won't lay a single scratch-" Sasuke answered but he was cut off when in a blast of wind and a flash of movement, Sasuke's shirt had a large cut from the sleeve down and his shorts were the same just bellow a belt loop.

Sasuke's eyes went wide as he saw his now ruined clothes. Kiba gasped a few "holy shits" before Sasuke noticed that there was a continuous shallow cut from his shoulder to his knee that only broke off from the belt loop. The cut wasn't even deep enough to draw more than a drop of blood but maybe that's what made it so intimidating.

"Sorry about that...you left yourself so wide open and I couldn't resist. You were saying something about a scratch?" Naruto said in flat tone. There was no mocking nor teasing in it. Naruto was just giving Sasuke a peek for what he was in for.

Sasuke looked up from his clothes and saw Naruto holding a wooden sword that looked identical to a real katana minus the guard. Though he did not know that the wooden sword was made out of a special kind of wood that could conduct chakra, which was how Naruto cut Sasuke's clothes.

...

"Wow...I didn't even see him move!" Chouji exclaimed, clearly impressed with what Naruto just did.

"He hurt Sasuke-kun..." Ino said weakly but on the inside she was practically drooling at the thought of only a thin scrap of cloth prevented her true love from being naked.

Sakura agreed with her friend but did not share her inner thoughts.

Shikamaru didn't say anything but he was paying far more attention to the match. Shino was doing the same.

_'That speed...I blinked and I missed it! Speed alone doesn't make him jounin level but the match hasn't even started yet!' _Kurenai thought in shock.

Hinata smiled lightly, glad that Naruto was getting to confront Sasuke, something he's wanted to do for years, and happy that everyone was impressed with her crush's speed. She couldn't wait to see their reactions when they saw what Naruto was really capable of.

...

Asuma blinked a few times. _'Damn...the kid's fast,' _he thought before he turned to an enraged Sasuke. "Do you want to change shorts before the match begins? Yours are hanging by a thread," he asked and received a glare for his efforts.

Sighing, he yelled, "Begin!" before jumping several yards back.

Sasuke immediately shot off, intending to make Naruto pay in full for wrecking his clothes. However, Naruto dodged each punch by a hair with an eat shit grin on his face.

"Is this really all you have Sasuke? I'm not impressed," Naruto mocked, his grin widening as he saw his words getting under Sasuke's skin.

Sasuke roared as his punches and kicks sped up, determined to hit Naruto if it was the very last thing he did, but Naruto dodged every single one with ease. He waited just long enough for Sasuke to think he had managed to get him, but at the very last millisecond he would shift his body ever so slightly and Sasuke's attack would miss.

It was embarrassing and infuriating.

Sasuke just grunted before smirking.

"**Tsuga**!" Kiba yelled as he became a human drill and aimed himself at Naruto's back.

However, to everyone's shock, Naruto planted his feet and as the Kiba drill neared him, he caught Kiba.

Kiba was spinning so rapidly that it tore right through Naruto's glove as well as his skin but he held on, his face not even hinting that he was even in pain.

...

"Holy shit..." Kurenai said in a breathless tone. She had done a little research on Kiba since she wanted him on her original team so she knew just how devastating his Tsuga was. A glancing blow and your skin was torn but a direct hit and your skin was shredded.

Her doubts about what Kakashi said vanished in an instant. She knew for a fact that she would be a wreck after taking one of those, let alone stopping it with her bare hand.

Like Kurenai, the genin were beyond impressed with Naruto; maybe except for Hinata for she knew his strength.

Shikamaru and Shino were both reassessing Naruto. Shino now thought Naruto was even more of an enigma and Shikamaru now thought Naruto was far more troublesome than he was originally.

Ino and Sakura both openly gaped; they didn't know the specifics like Kurenai but they had seen Kiba use it enough to know that it was very powerful.

Hinata and Kakashi were both surprised, Kakashi being more so than Hinata since she knew just how reckless Naruto was, that he choose to stop the attack with his hand. However, they both knew that the Hokage had given him permission to stop holding back. Maybe this was just him testing his new freedoms.

...

"Damn...that stung more than I thought it would," Naruto commented as he tossed Kiba away. He looked down at his hand and wasn't too surprised to see bone in a few places that had more contact with Kiba's rapidly spinning head.

Sasuke just stared at Naruto in shock. He was completely and utterly dumbfound by what he had just seen.

Kiba had used his Tsuga and Gatsuga on him before during some of the later acadmey spars so he knew from experience what that human drill felt like.

So that raised the question; how the fuck did he just stop it with one hand?!

Kiba landed a few feet away on his feet, looking just as shocked as Sasuke. "What the heck are you?!" Kiba demanded. Not even his mother could toss away his Tsuga like that.

Naruto didn't answer but focused his chakra to his wounded hand, muscle and skin quickly covering the exposed bone. It wasn't medical ninjutsu, his chakra control was far too poor for that, because Naruto couldn't heal other people. It was more like a kekkei genkai. The more chakra he focused; the faster the healing, though there were limits.

"Kiba...stay out of this. I'm crushing Sasuke right now; I don't want my teammate getting harmed because you were in the way," Naruto said in a serious tone that almost sent shivers down Kiba's spine.

It wasn't just his tone that, not that he'd admit it, frightened Kiba. It was his eyes.

They held no remorse. Naruto meant what he said: he was going to crush Sasuke.

Kiba truly wondered what Sasuke did to piss Naruto off so.

Naruto didn't wait to see Kiba's answer as he turned to face a recovering Sasuke.

Naruto bounced his mock sword lightly on his shoulder. "Teme...it's nothing personal, well thats a total lie; its completely personal. Anyway, I hope you're ready to meet the rest of your clan," Naruto said in sickeningly sweet tone. It was the tone of a predator deciding it was going to have a little fun with it's prey before eating it whole.

Naruto suddenly vanished, only to reappear before he delivered a devastating backhand to Sasuke's jaw. Sasuke went flying in the direction Naruto sent him in, too stunned to get his feet beneath him, and landed on his face almost a dozen yards away.

_'He should be glad that I held back with that slap. If he were a civilian, his neck would have broken,'_ Naruto thought as he lazily walked over to Sasuke who was getting back up.

Because shinobi used chakra, their bones, muscles, tendons, and all that other medical junk got strengthened to an amazing degree. That's how if you threw a civilian through a wall he'd be a bloody mess but if you threw a shinobi through a wall they'd brush themselves off.

"One slap and you're already done?" Naruto asked as he stopped a few feet away from Sasuke. His face was already beginning to swell where Naruto had hit him.

Feeling enraged by the comment, Sasuke threw another punch but it was knocked away with a light flick of Naruto's mock sword wielding hand before it stabbed him in the stomach.

It didn't pierce his skin but it hurt like hell.

Smacking the wooden blade away, Sasuke began to rain blows down on Naruto. He was hell-bent on landing at least one clean hit on the blonde. However, each punch or kick was smacked away with a strike from Naruto's weapon.

Sasuke threw a left hook, only for the blade to strike his elbow. He lashed out with a jab, only for the wooden sword to snap his wrist. He lashed out with a kick, only to miss and take a strike to his kneecap. He could already feel the bruises forming as his anger and embarrassment deepened.

Why couldn't he hit him? He trained for hours on end so he could avenge his clan but he couldn't even touch Naruto! He was so sure that he trained harder than the blonde, harder than any genin and most jounin, but he now knew he was wrong.

Naruto was in a completely different league and judging by the mocking grin on his face, Sasuke was guessing that this wasn't even close to Naruto's true strength.

"Don't you have any other tricks up your sleeve?" Naruto asked as he deftly ducked past a punch before delivering a rapid succession of attacks on Sasuke's ribs and back.

Sasuke growled as he ceased attacking and put some distance between them before flying through the handsigns for one of his family's signature jutsu.

...

Kurenai's eye went wide as she made to stop Sasuke before this got out of hand but she was stopped by a hand on the shoulder. She looked back in surprise at Kakashi, who was shaking his head. "Don't stop them. Naruto especially needs to get this out of his system," Kakashi said.

"He's trying to kill your student, Kakashi!" Kurenai informed in a ridiculous voice, bewildered why Kakashi himself wasn't jumping in.

Kakashi shook his head. "Just watch and don't interfere," He commanded in a lazy tone. Slowly relaxing, she turned her attention back to the match.

...

"**Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu**!" he called out, his flames enveloping where Naruto stood.

Sasuke kept the flames up for an impressive 30 seconds before he canceled the jutsu to avoid exhaustion. As he gained control of his breath, he peered into the lingering smoke, trying to see if he got Naruto. It was almost a minute later when the smoke finally cleared and much to his surprise, Naruto was gone.

_'That fireball wasn't anywhere near hot enough to reduce him to ash...'_ he thought in confusion.

"Whacha lookin at, teme?" said Naruto as he used Sasuke's shoulder as a prop to keep him up. Sasuke instantly whipped out a kunai and tried to slash Naruto but his attempt only managed to make it to the half way mark as Naruto grabbed his wrist.

"I think I've played with you enough, Uchiha scum," he said as he gave Sasuke's wrist a squeeze and twist, causing it to snap loudly.

Sasuke screamed out in pain, but that was silenced by a knee to the gut. As Sasuke involuntarily bent over, Naruto grabbed his hair, releasing the broken wrist, and yanked. Hard. "Oh no you don't, Sasuke. I still have seven years of bullshit I have to pay you back for," Naruto said, his boken dropping to the ground as he smashed his now empty fist into Sasuke's body and arms.

...

Kurenai went to go stop this. It was as clear as day that Naruto was the victor of this match, but once again Kakashi stopped her.

"Don't interfere," he said as he watched Naruto beat the last "loyal" Uchiha.

"Kakashi you can't be serious? Sasuke's getting pummeled! We have to step in before he dies!" Kurenai demanded.

"Kurenai-neesan, Naruto-kun won't kill Sasuke," Hinata said, answering for her sensei.

Kurenai whipped around at her little sister, feeling a bit betrayed that she didn't back her. "What do you mean? Aren't you watching the match?" she asked rhetorically as she gestured to the what was now only a one-sided beating.

"She means that Naruto is just playing with the teme. If he wanted him dead, then he would be," Kiba said as he sat down.

Kakashi rose an eyebrow. "Did you surrender? Doesn't seem like you," he commented.

Kiba sighed. " Naruto took on my strongest technique and it did absolutely nothing to him. I might be a little slow sometimes, but I'm not an idiot. If I tried to keep fighting, Naruto would have put me outta commission so he could take on the teme," he said with a sigh. Seems like his plan to woo Hinata wouldn't come into fruition.

Hinata nodded. "Naruto-kun won't kill Sasuke," she stated adamantly.

Kurenai sent a nervous glance over at Naruto pummeling Sasuke, just in time to see him punch Sasuke so hard in the stomach that Sasuke's shirt ripped away and he flew several feet.

"No. I'm sorry but I can't in good conscience let this go on," she said before disappearing in a Shunshin.

Kakashi sighed. "I hope she knows that Naruto's not going to be the one upset."

...

Naruto apathetically walked over to the bruised and battered Uchiha.

"Thats enough, Naruto!" commanded Kurenai from behind Naruto.

He looked behind him and saw Hinata's older sister figure glaring at him. He rose an eyebrow while still gripping the tattered remnants of Sasuke's shirt. He was about to respond, but Sasuke coughed up blood and barely rolled onto his side.

Naruto sighed as he tossed the ruined shirt on top of his beaten opponent. "I guess you're right. This wasn't even fun," he said in a tired tone as he began to walk away.

Despite what people may say about how he ruthlessly beat Sasuke down; it wasn't revenge.

It was retribution.

Sasuke deserved every cut, bruise and broken bone that Naruto just dealt him. Heck, he deserved a hell of a lot more, but Naruto couldn't stomach much more.

Naruto began to walk back to the others and past Kurenai, who was giving him her best "you-should-feel-terrible-about-what-you-just-did" look when they heard a weak voice stop them.

"Stop...I'm not done with you yet," Sasuke said as he struggled to stand up.

Naruto sighed and stopped as Kurenai rushed to her student's side. "Sasuke! Stay down you-" Kurenai began and placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder to keep him from rising but it was smacked away.

"Don't touch me! I have to prove that the Uchiha-" He was cut off by Naruto kicking him in the face.

"Stop being delusional! You can't win, so stay down. This isn't some movie where you can win by sheer force of will. If you get back up, if you threaten me or Hinata again, I _will_ end you.

"I am so sick of your arrogance and pride. You are not special, Sasuke. You are not a prodigy like your brother and the odds against you killing your brother are astronomical.

"At the rate you're advancing, it will be a thousand years before you could manage to lay a finger on Itachi. That's the truth. And do you know why you'll never kill him?" Naruto demanded.

There was silence.

"Because you're too fucking arrogant and prideful to accept help. You say you train hard and that makes you think you don't need anyone else, but you are so wrong that you should get an award. You can only get so far on your own, teme, and you've already gotten there.

"If you truly want to kill Itachi, and I imagine you do, admit that you can't do it on your own because the cold, hard truth is that you can't. If you continue as you are now, even if you do find Itachi, the only thing you'll be able to do is bleed on him," Naruto finished angrily before letting out a sigh and tucking his hands in his pockets, while his mock sword disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"I'm done with this," he said before walking off in the direction of town, Hinata following behind him to make sure he was okay.

Sasuke began to think about what Naruto had said and struggled to his feet, ignoring Kurenai's pleas for him to stay down.

"I'm going to the hospital," he said ignoring everyone and began to limp in the general direction of Konoha's hospital. Ino saw this and quickly began to try to help the fallen Uchiha along but he ignored her attempts.

Before long, all the genin had dispersed until only the jounin remained.

"So...still think I was lying?" Kakashi asked as he read his favorite novel.

Kurenai sighed. "No...but this turned into a mess didn't it?" she asked and received two grunts in reply.

Kurenai's attention snapped to Asuma. "Why didn't you stop the match earlier?!" She demanded, causing Asuma to sigh.

"There are three types of fights: fights to protect a life, fights to take a life, and fights to protect your pride. The last one is the type you do not interfere with," he said as he took out a cigarette.

Kurenai's brow furrowed in confusion and gestured for Asuma to explain further.

Taking a deep drag. "Sasuke was fighting to for his clan's pride and Naruto was fighting to regain lost pride with the Uchiha incident." Kurenai winced at the mention of Naruto's stay with the Uchiha clan. She always seemed to forget about it every time our favorite blonde was brought up.

"I didn't want to jump in because not only would it be a major insult against their pride but it's better that they deal with it now than when they're both high ranking shinobi...though Naruto was a bit stronger than I anticipated," he admitted with a sigh.

She paused, then turned to Kakashi, who already started answering her question before she could even ask it. "Yes, that's why I told you not to interfere. Naruto wouldn't kill Sasuke, not even the Hokage would be able to protect Naruto from the shitstorm that would get kicked up if he murdered the last loyal Uchiha. They, more Naruto than Sasuke, needed to vent their anger. It seems Naruto got most of his out, but since the fight was so one-sided, Sasuke's anger may either fester or vanish with that little talk," Kakashi mused as he flipped the page.

"So it doesn't matter that I saved my student from additional pain," Kurenai said with a nod.

"Hmmmm, not necessarily. You may have made Sasuke's anger fester because you thought he needed to be saved. So we may end up with a much more violent and antisocial Sasuke than we already have," Kakashi said thoughtfully, before clarifying to Kurenai. "I guess it's a guy thing."

Kurenai's shoulders dropped. She was desperately wishing that Naruto's words penetrated Sasuke's thick skull. She didn't know if she could handle two completely antisocial students.

Kakashi gave her an eye smile. "Lets hope for the best, shall we?"

**Hello everyone! Hope you enjoyed the chapter and sorry if it seemed a bit rushed. It was. I had only a few days left with the computer so I just pumped this chapter out as fast as I could and asked my beta,** **SamusOlderBrother,** **to finish it as soon as possible. Luckily, I got it ahead of schedule and that meant you got to read it sooner.**

**Unfortunately, this will be the last update until I either get a computer for myself or until the beginning of next school year. I may try going to my library to try and type up a chapter or two there but I won't make any promises.**

**Also, with the Sakura and Kurenai, sorry if that seemed a bit harsh. Sakura needed to get he act together and Kurenai just helped her along. The entire pinching her nipple thing was inspired by my friend telling me to go buy him a drink and when I said no he gave me titty twister so freaking hard that I'm sure the devil cringed. It was effective though since I did get him a drink.**

**Lastly; theres a poll on how you want Sasuke to be on my profile page. You can vote to make him continue as he is or make him change his ways. However, if you vote to change his personalty it will be a little while until you see any major changes.**

**'Till next time!**


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